Traveler
by Dadles
Summary: WARNING! This story has been discontinued! I'm not deleting it, because someday I might actually get off my ass and re-write it, and there are other people who have favorited it. If you want to read it anyway, the real summary is on my profile. 3 yrs old.
1. NOT PART OF THE STORY SORRY

**This is not part of the story. ATTENTION! To all who are following this story: It is being discontinued. I no longer have the will to keep writing it, and the story has pretty much disappeared from my head. I would have done this sooner, but I do have people who follow this story. **

**To the anonymous reviewer: I highly doubt that you'll be able to see this. As you stated before, you stopped reading in disgust after about 7 chapters. To answer your previous questions, even though you won't be able to see the answers unless you followed, which I know you didn't, (you probably don't even have an account here), read below:**

"Ugh, I don't see how people can call this fanfiction. "** Well, it is called Fanfiction because A) it is fictional and B) it takes place in a world not my own and uses characters from a different story. If you want to know _why_ it is specified as _Fanfiction_, please take the time to read the Fanfiction guidelines.**

"I believe stories that focus solely on an OC don't deserve to be called Fanfiction. It's just a story with a bunch of characters from an already established universe. I mean, really. Who's this character? She already drives me away from the story, mainly due to the fact that she has the "tragic incident" trait.""

**Okay, first off, what you believe is YOUR opinion, and though you are entitled to spread it around as much as you like, people do NOT have to take your word at it's root. They don't have to listen to you, and you should learn this now. Second, if you paid attention, the story explains who the OC is. I don't care about your views on her.**

"Seriously shows signs of sue-ness. Actually, she basically is a "Mary Sue". She's very important and the way she enters the temple in, by all means, a "Mary Sue" manner. And the fact that she'll get with Raimundo is another giveaway of her sue traits."

**Another thing I feel I need to note: the dates of which this story was originally written. People and stories change over a period of time. For instance, I originally started writing this when I was 12** **and had different views on how it should be written.**** I only started posting this stuff forever ago, with very minimal editing. And I haven't updated this story in a very long time, which I'm sure makes the people following this mad as all Hell, especially with the cruel cliff-hangers on practically ever chapter. As for the Raimundo thing: I was in love with Raimundo as a little girl watching the show. I was also sort of in love with Jack Spicer. Since Melody was supposed to represent a new improved better and awesome version of me, it would only make sense that I paired her up with Raimundo "from the beginning", so you can understand why that it is how it is.**

"She get's with him when she just appears, even though Kimiko's been around since the show. "

**Kimiko never really had him in the first place. Also, I can tell you are a fan of what is called "Canon", which I have no qualms about, but of which you should understand that if you are reading an AU and OC fic, you cannot go around and criticize another person's work based on your own biased views. Also, Kimiko is _part_ of the show, of course she's been around _since_ the show!**

"I've read as far as seven chapters and I just couldn't go any further. How does this deserve to be called "fanfiction" in the first place? Just skip this and write an original story that will most likely get published. "

**I had already planned to. I've just been thinking about changing a few names and places, altering the order of things, and messing with a few personalities and story lines. As**** I have stated before, if you want to know how this classifies as Fanfiction, then read the guidelines. Unlike most people, I actually _did_, and found that, yes, my fiction actually _does_ classify as Fanfiction. I read the guidelines before I posted this a couple years ago. And for your information, I appreciate your review, even if it _is_ seen as negative to most people. However, I would appreciate it if you actually tried your hand at actually fic-writing before you go around criticizing my work. I find that people become much more appreciative of the efforts other people make if they have _experience_ with what the other people are doing.**

"One last thing. Why does every author in the Xiaolin Showdown fandom have to use a girl OC? Ticks me off because some random little girl appears and turns out to be super important and/or is very powerful that villains take an interest in them. Especially Chase Young, even though the man has been watching Omi. What's the fascination with OC'S anyway?"

**Ah, the most important question yet. Most Fanfictioners are in fact _female_, and they base their OC's on either themselves, people they know, or how they themselves would like to be. People like to feel important, therefore they give "themselves" the biggest parts. Having the villains take interest in them only adds the the story, as possible conflicts could occur _because_ of the interest in the importance and power of the OC. And as for Chase Young, everyone loves him as the most bad-assed villain, so it only makes sense that emphasis would be put on him. And for the record, he has NOT been watching Omi the for the entirety of the show. He wants the strongest apprentice, and Omi is the likeliest candidate for the position. The reason he would suddenly be more interested in the OC would be because the OC is suddenly the likeliest candidate.**

**Furthermore, THIS IS FANFICTION! The purpose of which is to CHANGE the original story, or add to it. OC's do an impressively good job, as the biggest change to a story would be a new, never before seen character. Fanfiction has no rules in this regard. We can add whoever the hell we want, do whatever the hell we want, and everything else _however the hell we want_. As long as we are not writing the exact show (e.i. a narrative of the original show, what is said and done), we can go as crazy as we want with this. That doesn't mean you have to read it.**

**You have officially lost The Game.**

**If you would like to continue this "conversation", you can contact me on Facebook, ('Asta Dadles, I'm the only one), Deviantart (dadles, again, the only one), email (), The Cheezburger Network (i.e. failblog, memebase, _Art of Trolling_, etc... as, once again, dadles, and I'm the only one), and StumbleUpon (as dadles)**

**there are probably a ton of other sites I'm on that I can't remember right now, but if you ever want to find me anywhere, my username will ALWAYS be dadles or dadles09 (but usually just the former)**

**(Anonymous has been TROLLED)  
**


	2. Prologue

**Hi! My name is Dadles! This is my first story on Fanfiction, but it's not the first story I've ever done. The parts where our world crosses over with the world of Xiaolin Showdown are in, like, Chapter five, I think? Please visit my profile for the full summary of the story, cos it's worth the trip. This first chapter has a character death, but it's by no means depressing or angsty. Really, I'm not an angsty kind of person.**

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Prologue

I lay on my deathbed, thinking about her. How unfortunate that she'll have to take this road. I sighed. _Fate_, I thought. _Why does her life have to end? She's so young!_

From the corner of my eye, I saw the beginnings of a shimmer in the air. Fate materialized before my eyes to answer my thoughts. I sighed again.

"My dear, dear Daniel. It is her purpose in her life! It's what she was born to do. Do not worry. She will be in my hands."

"It's Dashi in this world. You know that. And it's the fact that she _will_ be in your hands that worries me. Look at what you put _me_ through. How can I _not_ worry?" I sighed again. I will never see my darling Angel again. My only baby, my only heir. _Oh Harmony, please forgive me for doing this to our daughter!_ How much longer do I have left?

My mind ran through my memories yet again, recalling them perfectly, even as I wished to forget...

I remember very clearly the first time I died. I was 17. My mother had disappeared after I was born. Growing up, I heard stories, different reasons why she left us. Some people said she left my father and me because she didn't want me, or rather, the responsibility of raising a child. Others said she died right after birthing me.

I never knew her, nor had I any memory of her. I remember, when I was young, wishing that she would come back to us, back to me. I wanted to show her that even though she left, I still loved her. But as time passed, those feelings and wishes faded away. My mother was just another irresponsible woman, destined for Hell.

The world I grew up in was simple and old-fashioned. The people were narrow-minded and highly religious. As a young man, and as the preacher's son, I was well educated. Countless times, I had proven my worth, both religiously and scientifically. (Back then, science wasn't too greatly appreciated.) I was young and good-looking, I had a good-paying job, and I was popular. I was strong and talented a most everything I did. I didn't know those were only the signs...

I shook my head to clear it of the gruesome details. I fated to die on my way home from work. My father would never know what had really happened to me. I remember, he was excited about this girl he had wanted me to meet. Hope, or some other ridiculously sentimental name...

I was brought harshly and abruptly to my first world to begin my true mission. And now, my 10,000 years were up.

When I looked again, Fate was gone. I knew she had gone back to Opportunity. I briefly wondered how old my daughter would be now, and what she looked like. _Does she resent me? Did my mother from that world tell her the truth yet? Or is she still blissfully unaware of the horrors she's about to face?_

The curtain rustled. I looked over to my left to see the long, green, sinuous body of my best friend, Dojo, slithering through, wringing his hands.

"How ya doin', Dashi?" The words were whispered so softly, but I could still hear the fear and worry in his voice. His honey-gold eye's were red-rimmed from crying. He wasn't ashamed to cry. His eyes were still shiny and wet. I couldn't fool him; he knew what was going on.

"Have you been crying?" I asked, trying, unsuccessfully, to distract him.

"You know how emotional I get!" he blurted. Good ol' Dojo. Always worrying about me. "Besides," he added. "I have a pretty good reason to."

"Well then, I better get straight to business." I said, smiling. Just have to keep up a light tone and joke around. Maybe it'll make him feel better. I know I'm not scared. I know were I'm going and who I'll be with. My only regret is who I _won't_ be with.

"What do you mean, 'business'? What are we gonna talk about, the market? You're on your _deathbed_, for Wu's sake! You _need_ your **rest**!"

"Dojo, I have the rest of eternity to rest. I can do without a little extra. I need to tell you something important: my last instructions for you."

He hesitated. Finally, he slivered onto my bed and sat by my side. "I'm listening." I took a deep breath. Dojo already knew about me and my past. I've told him countless time of my first and only love, as well as my darling little Angel, my only daughter, the only cild I'd ever had. My only heir...

"This is my last world. You already know this, as well as my mission here. I finished my mission and lived my life out to this end. When I die, I'll reside forever in the world I created, along with my dearest Harmony.

"In fifteen hundred years, my daughter, my only heir, will come here. You are NOT to tell ANYONE of this foretelling, or about my origins or past lives. Try to speak of me as little as possible. Keep my secrets until my daughter Angel arrives. When she comes, she will have forgotten her name, but you should be able to see the resemblance between us. When she arrives, you may tell her about me. Only when she exists in this world will my secrets finally be able to be revealed. I need you to be her best friend, just as you have been mine." Already, I could feel my eye-lids growing heavy. This would be my last death. This was something I was familiar with. I could feel myself fading away, succumbing to the darkness. I could finally go to the place I truly belonged...

"No, please! Don't go yet, Dashi! What about me? What am I gonna for 1500 years?"

"Fate has already shown me your future, Dojo. You will find a great friend and master. As long as you stay committed to the Xiaolin Temple, you'll find him someday. You'll be fine. In fact. You'll pretty much be bored. You will welcome the adventures to come." Dojo slowly nodded his head and tried to wipe away the tears streaming down his face. I didn't realize that I myself was crying too, until, failing at stopping his own tears, Dojo began to wipe at mine with the blanket covering me. I felt my energy almost complete dissipate. _Fate?_ I whispered in my mind. _It's early._

_I have taken the energy so that she may survive long enough for her grandmother to complete your last wishes._ I closed my eyes and thanked her. And sending my daughter good wishes and love, I sighed in acceptance.

"Good-bye, Dojo. Thank you." I reached up to hold the dragon closer. He was hugging me so tightly, sobbing. I smiled. "Thank you, for everything you've done, and for being my best friend. I know you'll meet my darling Angel one day, so tell her how much I adore her and convey my love to her. Good-bye, friend. Good-bye..."

And with my last breath, I died, knowing that when I woke up, it would be in the arms of my beloved, in the meadow of my mind.

**End of Prologue**

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REVIEW! Please?


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

SLAM! Brooke and her big mouth got me again. I burst through the locker room door on the verge of tears. Why does she have to mean?

"AAAAAAUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, slamming my fist against the lockers. I can't believe I let her get to me! AUGH! So stupid of me to think that I was safe. Especially not after last night's recital!

I quickly spun through the numbers on my assigned locker. I shoved my clothes into my bag, not even bothering the change out of my ballet suit into my street clothes. I don't plan on sticking around long enough to be caught in the locker room, not after what I just did to Brooke. My mind unwittingly replayed those most recent memories, along with the ones that Brooke's cruel words dredged up from whatever forsaken pit of despair my mind had sealed away...

Walking just behind a group of girls, I listened to them talk.

"Mom recorded the performance I did! She's gonna e-mail it to all her friends and family!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, Dad took a break from work and drove up _all the way from Iowa_ to see my performance in person!"

"My parents _BOTH_ came; and they hate each others _guts_! I couldn't believe it! They didn't even argue once! My luck would be complete if I won!"

From where I was, I saw Brooke nudge Katie, the girl who just spoke. She said softly, "I wouldn't get your hopes up. We all KNOW who's gonna win." She leveled her glare at me. I averted my eyes. The other girls got quiet. They were all looking at me. I kept walking past them even as they stopped.

"Hey, Angel, I didn't see your parents at the recital last night. Did they come and I just didn't see them?" I stopped walking and half turned toward the group. Alice, a short girl with bright green eyes and bouncy blonde ringlets that framed her pixie-like face, spoke. I felt sorry for her, that she had to ask that question.

I didn't answer. I just kept an emotionless gaze settled on her face, in her eyes. It always unnerved people with the way I looked them in the eye. It disarmed them. Left them speechless.

The other girls exchanged glances at my silence. They knew the look on my face. I had used it on them plenty of times before. They were never able to break my mask. They were reduced to mumbling and looking away from my searching gaze.

Alice continued on, as if the atmosphere wasn't crackling with the uncomfortable stillness. "I mean, I've seen your Gramma pick you up from school and drop you off before, and you always talk about her. But you never talk about your mom or dad. I've never seen them before, either. Why don't you tell us about them?"

This time I answered right away. "I can't. I wouldn't know where to start." I always admired Alice. Out of all the girls, she was my favorite. She was actually intelligent. She was perky in a non-annoying way, and she was never susceptible to incoherent babbling from my stare. However, now was one of those times that I fervently wished that she would drop the subject. I let my facade fall just the slightest bit, trying to plead with my eyes, telling her to drop it. She didn't."

"Well, what do you call them? Mom? Dad?"

"No, neither."

"Mommy? Daddy?" Katie chimed in. Her short, brown air bobbed in anticipation. All the girls that had been staring at me, had seen the slight drop of my mask. They saw emotion cloud my eyes for a moment and they ambushed me.

Before I could answer, the other girls started taking guesses, talking all at once and over each other. When they went over everything that I could possibly call my parents, they fell silent, waiting for my answer. I had cringed when they started questioning me. I pulled the mask on my face once again.

"None of those either. Are you quite done?" I sighed. The girls just stared again. I knew that I should just turn around and go, but I felt obligated to stay and answer, for some reason. _They're probably wondering what's wrong with me_, I decided.

"Well, what do you call them, then?" Brooke asked me. What should I say? My parents...

"I don't call them anything." I said blankly. In response, Brooke crossed her lithe arms over her chest and scowled.

"Well that's just stupid! You don't call them anything? If you ask me, I say you're just looking for another excuse to get attention! You don't have enough already, being so great at everything you do, no, you gotta try and sucker us into your little scheme, too! You're pathetic!" she ranted. I felt my temper flare, and the mask dropped clean off my face. I watched her eyes go wide at this. All the girls looked shocked at the fury on my face. Tears pricked at my eyes as I tried to calm myself down. _She doesn't understand_, I told myself. _She's too stupid to know what the implications of what I said mean._

Before I could stop myself, I suddenly spat out, "My parents are DEAD, Brooke. You think that's pathetic? You think _I'm_ pathetic for not wanting to talk about them? Let me tell you something about pathetic," I snarled. I stalked closer to her. She shrank back at the menace plainly clear and undisguised in my voice. All the girls backed away slowly, trying not to catch my eye. Brooke cringed as I came closer. And it gave me satisfaction. Good, she's scared of me. I got in Brooke's snobby little face.

"What's pathetic is that you can't _stand_ me. You hate me for something that I can't control! What's pathetic is the way you treat this like some sort of game, like it's a competition! You think I'd make up something so awful just to get attention? You think I _like_ the attention? Trust me, I don't! I hate it! I hate the way people stare at me, the way they treat me! I just want to do what I love. How do you think I feel when I try something new and find that I happen to be good at that, just like everything else? Huh? I don't want to be like this, I just want people to leave me alone!" I spat the words out. They filled the empty hallway and struck like a cobra, slicing the atmosphere to ribbons.

Brooke, recovered slightly, got right back in my face and shouted, "You love it! You do it on purpose! You steal the spotlight from every other girl and hog it all to yourself!"

My temper peaked, fury flooding my mind and body, and before I could think, my arm pulled back into a fist and threw itself forward, colliding with Brooke's face with an audible sound. My knuckles throbbed, but I took no notice. Brooke had staggered back and had fallen smack on her butt. I almost laughed, but I was too pissed.

"You don't give a _damn_ about these girls, Brooke! You criticize them when it's not your place! You pick on them almost as much as you try to pick on me. You act all high and mighty about it, like you're the best damn thing around! You get pissed off whenever I do something you can't, or if I happen to do something better than you. Hell, you get pissed off if _anyone_ is better than you! I would try to hold back, but I have to save some respect for myself, because obviously, you don't give a damn about _that_ either. I don't want the damn precious spotlight! Anyone can have for all _I_ care! You punch out everyone's self-esteem to try and put yourself higher than me! I'm sick of it! I hate all the attention that **YOU** force on me! Put yourself in my shoes for once and GET A LIFE!" I raged. I turned and stormed down the hall while everyone stood in shocked silence. I had never let anyone see me like that. I had never lost my temper in front of them before. I had broken my own mask. I had revealed my pain, my anger, and my thoughts, and I had shown them something they had never seen before in me.

So now I'm in the locker room, trying to cool my temper down enough to concentrate. All of this...it was building up inside me. It had been building up pressure, threatening to explode, for a while now. It just so happened that Brooke's face was my release. An oh so satisfying release...that made me happy.

I broke away from my thoughts and memories. I just need to go home, snack on chocolate, and listen to my Pandora Station. I know! I'll hold a vegi-thon with Grandma this weekend, and just sit on the couch and watch movies all day, eating snacks and acting fat. Grandma would totally go for it. We'll hold another slumber party in the living room and stay up all night watching shows that are inappropriate for 15 year old girls to watch.

Hefting my bag on my shoulder, I pushed open the back exit door. I knew right away when I opened it that something was wrong. The sirens seemed a bit too close. I shrugged and walked out the back door anyway. My need to get home and my curiosity of what was going on got the best of me.

I knew I made the wrong decision. As soon as I heard the door click shut behind me, I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun going off, followed almost immediately by my scream as my side burst into flames.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The searing pain didn't lessen at all as I gasped for air and sank down to my knees. I looked down to where all this agony was stemming from. My pink suit was ripped open near the section where the little skirt started. Of course. The suit was made of nylon. Blood seemed to gush uncontrollably from the wound. Yep. That was definitely a gun I heard.

I remembered the first-aid training my Grandma had put me through. It had made me mad at the time. She was constantly looking for new extra-curricular activities to make me do. I don't know if she just wanted me out of the house or what, but it was kinda annoying and frustrating.

It was during the fifth grade that I actually took the training. She had said that if I could get in 40 hours of community service now, while she had me volunteering at the hospital, then I would have 40 extra hours later in high school to do whatever I wished. That was the only reason I had agreed to it at the time. Of course, it'd be redundant if I died now. Fear gripped my body in an instant. Death was what I was facing now.

I sucked in air and held my breath while I examined myself. Ignoring the spasms of pain, I pressed and prodded. I felt the inside of the entry wound. Health class lessons came rushing back to the front of my mind. With a flash of horror, I realize what exactly got injured.

"My liver!" I gasped. I would have to have a transplant if it was too damaged, and even if it's not too badly hurt, the recovery time for my cells to replicate and heal the organ was daunting in my mind. Suddenly, a lot more blood seemed to be pouring out of my wound. My head began to swim. Death! If I didn't put forth the effort and knowledge, I was going to die! I ripped both sleeves off my suit. I balled up one and pressed it tightly against the wound. I winced and almost fainted with the intensity of pain. Then I wrapped the other around my waist, thankful that I was always so slim.

Blood still seemed to gush out through the makeshift bandages. My head grew faint. I tried to stand up, but I felt like I had been zapped by lightning. All my energy was just suddenly GONE! My knees gave way and I collapsed. What's happening to me? My breathing grew more ragged, as I struggled to keep conscious. My eyes screwed shut as I concentrated. I opened them again and—

"AAAAAHHHHH! What—where the Hell did you come from?" I screamed.

Right in front of me stood the most beautiful boy on the planet. Or I should say boyish man. Because he seemed to change from boy, to man, to boy again, it was hard to tell. The air about him had a type of glow to it. His hair and clothes lifted gently around his face, like he had his own personal breeze to surround him. He wore a loose, white shirt that poofed a little in the imaginary breeze, and white slacks with a gold cord around his waist. He was barefoot, which didn't make sense, seeing as we were in a dirty alley. His hair was chin-length, wavy-ish, and golden. It was shiny like the hair that super models you see on TV have. But I felt like I was staring at a rainbow, the way it glittered. His eyes were also a brilliant gold, so at first, I thought he was a vampire, which was pretty cool, except for the fact that I was bleeding. Hey everyone's read the Twilight saga; who wouldn't think he was a vampire? It would certainly explain the indescribable beauty. I could condense it as much as I want, but there really were no words to do him justice.

My evaluation took only a second. He reached his hand out to me, as if he wanted to help. I suddenly felt compelled to take the hand, however much my mind screamed at me not to, that there was something not right about him. Just as I started to reach for the hand, I noticed something else, something I hadn't noticed at first because I was caught up in his eyes: he had wings and a halo! Suddenly, adrenaline cleared the fog that had begun to settle on my mind. I pushed myself to my feet and sprinted towards the alley's end. An angel had been sent to collect my soul! A distant voice in me noted that I must be going to Heaven. I ignored it and listened to the other voice cursing how long the alley was. I don't want to die! _I don't want to die!_

_But if you did_, that other voice said, _if you did then you could finally be with your mom and dad! One happy family together at last in Heaven. All you'd have to do is wait for Grandma! Dying can't be that bad if you get to spend eternity with the ones you love! Just stop. Give up. Wait for the blood to leave you and let the angel take you away—_

"I don't want to die! I don't believe in that Heaven crap! I know that there's possibly more than one way to go! I have more respect for myself than to just quit! I will _**never**_ quit!" I shouted at myself. I put one foot in front of the other, the fear of death forcing me forward. I could feel the angel's gaze on my back as I tried to escape, still stealing my energy, dragging the blood out of me. I could feel him doing it!

Almost there now. I can see the red and blue lights of squad cars, parked across the street at the bank. I trudged slowly forward, holding the wall for support and keeping a hand on my wound, still bleeding, and I gasped against the pain. The police were putting a struggling man into a squad car when I pushed myself out of the shadows of the alley.

The angel's influence ceased the instant I made it out into the sunlight. I heard several screams, and looked to my left. The girls...they had just walked out the door and they could see me. The horror written over their faces confirmed what I thought: I looked as close to Death as I felt.

The darkness almost overtook me as I wobbled onto the sidewalk. I collapsed to the ground and felt many hands over me. I couldn't see. My eyes were all but glued shut with how heavy they were. All I had was sound.

The girls were crying. What they saw would probably scar them for life. A sadistic part of me whispered, "_Serves 'em right for starting all of this..."_ Police were yelling at everyone to move out of the way, and several people were talking loudly. Many hands checked my vitals, and I tried to speak, but all that came out was a whisper.

"_Help..."_

I floated on the cusp of consciousness and death as hands surer than mine took me in. I felt myself pass into sleep, and forgot everything else.

Something tickled at my mind. A voice that broke through that black silence.

"_You have chosen a harder path. It will be difficult, but you have made your father proud. Good luck, Traveler..."_


	5. Chapter 3

Hey peoples! Chapter update! I know it's kinda long, but it's a whole chapter! Recently, I was reading a story by **x-MewHazzard-x** and she and I were really talking. She does these little skit things at the beginning and end of her chapters and they are hilarious! I'm not gonna do those, 'cos that's the same as stealin', but she's sending me one of her prisoners-I mean, 'friends'. (actually, as a welcome gift, she's sending me Raimundo and a Jackbot. Yay!) He'll be here by next Friday, cos Hazzard actually sent him to Antarctica before planning on sending him to me, so she sent a Jackbot after him to get him back. (with her first-hand photo of a penguin, of course.) ;) After the Jackbot gets Raimundo, they'll make their way here. So, yeah! **Read the story!**

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Chapter 3

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Augh. What is that infuriating sound?

"Doc, I think she's waking up!"

"Get more anesthetic in her then! We're in the middle of operating!" In the middle of operating? What's going on? Where am I?

I felt a mask being pulled over my face. I tried to speak, but it came out as a moan. My lips didn't seem to want to move properly. My eyes were heavy; when I tried to open them, they just fluttered.

"It's okay, honey, you're okay. We just need you to sleep for a bit, alright?" A woman's voice cooed. _But I'm awake now_, I wanted to say. _What's the point, anyway? I can't sleep with that insistent beeping! And I'm too tired to sleep, so it's useless._

The darkness that blanketed me was starting to lift. I could feel the ends of my fingertips. I was beginning to see red spots on the back of my eyelids.

I heard some more distant voices, some asking for various objects, some telling others what to do.

"Someone get another nurse, please. I need someone to—" whoever was talking was cut off by the sound of a door opening and someone walking briskly into the room.

"Is the patient done yet? Her grandmother is here and demanding to see her." Patient? Nurse? Grandmother? Was I at the hospital? What happened to me?

In a rush, my memories came back to me. Last night's recital, Brooke's cruel words of resentment, my angry outburst, punching Brooke flat on her butt (heh-heh), being shot in alley, and seeing the angel. I suddenly wanted Grandma VERY much.

I ended up being finished in an hour. I was fascinated with all the tugging I felt. Part of me registered that the doctors were sewing me up and that it should be painful. I fell asleep on and off while they worked, contrary to what I was thinking earlier. That little voice in me also commented on how their stupid knock-out gas failed to work. It was a little too casual to me and I was disoriented every time I woke up, which happened a bit more often than I would've liked. _Okay, so maybe the stuff worked a little more than I thought. I keep falling asleep!_ I thought.

"That's all we can do for now. Let's hope she doesn't reject the organ or the blood we gave her." The doctors wheeled me into a different room, adjusted me on a new bed, and the left the room. I heard their voices start to fade outside the door.

I decided that it was probably safe for me to open my eyes, so I did. I surveyed the room. I was in a typical hospital room, with equipment cluttering the space. I looked down at my arms, which were covered with gauze and tubing. _Yikes!_ It wasn't a pretty sight. Needles poked out everywhere. My body was covered with a thin sheet. The feeling had returned completely by now, which was uncomfortable because now I was cold. I duly noted the beeping at my bedside as my heart rate. It seemed normal enough.

The door opened again and a nurse sporting a clipboard in hand walked in. Looking up from the clipboard she was carrying, she saw me and squeaked.

"What?" I said. The Squeaky Nurse shook her head.

"You shouldn't be awake now, is all. Are you in pain? How do you feel?" Squeaky Nurse asked.

"I'm not in any pain, but I'm cold. Do you know what happened to me?"

"There was a bank robbery across the street from the ballet studio you were at. The criminal got caught, but not before he squeezed a round off. No one thought anyone had been hit until you stumbled out of that alley pouring blood. That was clever of you to stanch the bleeding some. It very well may have saved your life. Although, just how one bullet could do that sort of damage and so much of it is beyond me…" Squeaky Nurse started pushing some of the equipment around, while I thought. One bullet. Just one bullet brought me so close to Death. I looked around to see if any black-cloaked figures were standing around. Or worse: The angel.

After a while, Squeaky Nurse left. Then my stomach started to rumble. The nurse had said that if I needed anything, to push the button at my bedside.

I pushed the button and waited. A few minutes later, Squeaky Nurse came in again.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Umm, can I get something to eat? I'm starved."

"Sure, what do you want?"

"Anything is fine, except potato salad. I hate potato salad." It's true! I don't understand why anyone would even invent such a thing, much less EAT it! What do people like about it? It's nasty!

And then I almost giggled at myself. Here I was, recovering from a near-death experience, and I'm going on thinking about nasty potato salad! I shuddered. The mere thought of that accursed name makes me shiver.

"Alright. I'll be up with some late-night dinner." She turned to leave.

"Hey, umm, is my grandma here? I really want to see her. I heard she was here before, but I haven't seen her." Squeaky Nurse looked at me funny as she paused in the doorway. Oh, duh! I forgot that I was supposed to be asleep while they were operating! I wonder if I should tell her that I was awake.

"Where did you hear that?" I think I saw a dangerous glint in her eye. Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe she was the impatient nurse who had announced my grandmother's arrival before. She seemed suspicious. I may not have any friends, but I'm still a good judge of character. I can read a person's emotions in their eyes. And this woman's eyes didn't match her face at all.

I took a good look at Squeaky Nurse. Her eyes are a dull green. She has blonde hair, like me, but it's a brownish caramel color with faded highlights streaking through. Her bangs are neatly pinned to the left side of her slightly rounded face, curling towards her weak chin. Judging from the length of her bangs, I think her hair is quite long. And although her bangs look straight, I'm pretty sure her hair is a lot wavier, judging from the loose ends poking through her bun. Squeaky Nurse's build is pear-shaped, with a somewhat thin waist. She could stand to lose a few pounds, but she looks like any ordinary generic nurse wearing her white nurse's uniform.

I realized that she was still waiting for an answer.

"Oh, umm, the doctors didn't sedate me all the way. I heard a nurse say that Grandma was here and wanted to see me." I watched her face and waited. I'm not sure, but I think I just saw surprise and annoyance flit across her face before she smiled at me.

"Oh, well, I'll have her come up, then! But visiting hours are almost over, so don't get too eager." Hmm… Her voice seemed a tad to sugary that time. She left the room and closed the door, so I was left with my thoughts.

Maybe it was that fact that I had been sedated or maybe it was because I was still confused by my injuries, but I was slow in seeing this lady's character. Or maybe I was just paranoid. But I could see her more clearly now.

Now that I think about her, she _does_ seem kind of familiar, in an eerie way. Her caramel blonde-brown hair was meticulously groomed. Her eyes were a dull, watered-down green but they had their own sort of sharpness. The way they flick around the room whenever she comes in, it reminded me of a mouse that was cornered and was looking for an escape. No, she was more like a shrew. The way she acted around me reminded me of… Brooke.

Unconsciously, my thoughts flashed to a memory from the night before ago. The memory recalled itself perfectly and I watched as I saw exactly where I've seen her before…

The auditorium was crowded. I pulled the curtain back into place, and walked to where the other girls were waiting. I was up next with my own dance. I'd spent most of the time stretching, but every now and then, I'd peek through the curtains. Right up front in the center-most seat, the best seat in the house, there sat a smug little woman. With each performance, the woman's smile grew wider and wider, and on her face there grew an ugly sneer. Sitting right next to her was my grandma. I could see from where I was that the smug woman was talking to her. Grandma didn't look too happy. I could only imagine what smug woman was saying to make Grandma's face pinch up the way it does when she was trying not to scowl.

Brooke was before me, so I the last act. I watched Brooke begin to dance, and the smug woman absolutely glowed with pride. I could see immediately that the smug woman was Brooke's mother. Who else could make such an obnoxious face as that?

Then Brooke was finished. I tugged at my skirt and tightened my hair band. Feathery little wisps of my pale white-blonde hair lingered and framed my face. The beautiful ballet shoes I wore were snow white, and they laced all the way up to my knees with a simple but elegant white ribbon, tied in a bow and left to flutter about gracefully as they stirred in the slightest breeze. The skirt was one I had cut and designed myself, courtesy of the sewing and embroidery Grandma had put me through. Sitting still, it looked like a regular skirt, with nothing special about it. But when I twirled it would unfold and spread wide, leaving behind an angelic wonder of swirls and flutters, falling ever so slightly back into place. It looked snow white, but it was a white gray, and uneven, almost tattered, but in a professional way. Little burnt-looking spots littered the surface and it would leave quite the impression on my audience.

I had thin, thread-like, white ribbons in my hair and tied to my wrists. Grandma had worked on my make-up before the recital started. My gorgeous eyes that were such a bright blue that they stood out by themselves were framed with sleek, black eyeliner and brushed up with white eye-shadow with a trace of ice-blue. And resting in the hollow of my throat, Grandma had placed her own silver locket. It was a locket that her son, my father, had given her. The silver heart nestled perfectly and completed the look that I created. To put it simply, I looked like an angel. This, ironically enough, is my name: Angel.

When the music started playing, I danced out onto the stage. Swirling and spinning, flowing about the stage, I caught sight of the expression on Brooke's face. Complete surprise and awe, mixed with the usual envy and jealousy, I'd seen this look more than once on Brooke's usually smug face. Dancing was something that I actually enjoyed and I took pride in it. Brooke couldn't compete with that kind of devotion, because she only danced to beat everyone and show that she's better than them.

Whirling and moving to the flow of the music, I also caught sight of Brook's mother's face. It, too, was surprised, but mostly it was stricken with horror and hatred. Like she couldn't believe that someone could better than her daughter. Her mouth hung gaping. I saw Grandma lean over with plain pride on her face, and also the touch of a smirk twitching at the corner of her mouth. Even through the music that filled the auditorium, I heard Grandma say to Brooke's mother, "That's my granddaughter! She's the best out of all of them, but I guess that's because she's so devoted! She's so much like her mother. She's even better than that Brooke girl…" I can guess that Grandma knew who that woman belonged to, because when she came back up straight, she had the look of someone with the satisfaction of just getting back at someone else who pissed them off.

After the recital, Brooke's mother glared daggers at me. She stared after me with such a cold loathing that each time I caught her gaze, I had to fight a shudder.

I wrenched my mind back to the present. Yes, that woman is most definitely Brooke's mother. What am I gonna do?

_Well, nothing for now. You're hospitalized, and it's not like you can ask for a different nurse. _True, I thought.

I was interrupted from my thoughts (yet AGAIN!) by Brooke's mother opening the door and ushering someone in.

"Grandma!"

"Angel!" She rushed to my bedside, nearly knocking over my startled nurse.

"Hi, Grandma."

"Nurse, please leave us." Grandma's curt voice startled both me and Brooke's mother. She looked baffled for a second, but she turned and walked briskly from the room.

"Now, Angel, I only have a few minutes to tell you some very important things, so don't interrupt me or talk and just let me tell you what you need to hear. This is about who you really are, what's going to happen to you, and what really happened to your father." Grandma looked at me with the most serious face I'd ever seen her wear. She wasn't kidding around.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a box.

"The night that your father left, he gave me specific instructions. On the day that you are supposed to die, I am to give you the gift he left for you, and tell you this story—"

"Die? But I'm perfectly fine! The doctors fixed me up.—" She looked at me hard. "Umm, sorry. Continue."

"The angel kept your head clear, didn't he? Instead of letting you die in that alley, he let you get here so I could carry out my son's final wishes."

"How do you know about the angel?" I was shocked. How did she know about the angel in the alley? How much _does_ she know?

"The angel's name is Opportunity. Since you are your father's only child, he and Fate have only one heir to choose from to take over in your father's place." Grandma sighed. "This is your story as well as your father's," she said. A cold, creepy feeling shimmied up and down my spine. My heart rate spiked, causing the beeping at my bedside to increase briefly. Grandma spoke again, "Angel, your father was the Traveler, and now you are too." I didn't know what she meant, but at this revelation, at the word 'Traveler', my blood turned to ice. What's going on? Why am I reacting this way? Something's wrong with me, obviously.

Grandma sighed again, and ignoring my sudden shivers, began to tell the story.

* * *

**Ooh! Shivers! Grandma's telling a story! Okay, Raimundo is set to arrive next Friday, which is a little early, but okay. It'll take him a while to get used to being back at the Temple, since he was stuck in a small room with just Wuya, Jack, and Hazzard for company, but I know he'll be happy! Come back next week for more and I might have something funny for you!**

**TA!**


	6. Chapter 4

**Hey, people! Guess what? Raimundo's here! yay! Poor boy was close to frost-bitten! But, you know, nothing I couldn't fix. He's getting settled right now with some chicken soup. Not the homemade kind, 'cos that stuff sucks, but the Cambel's. Yeah, you know, the good stuff! Made LOTS of it!**

**Dadles:** How's the soup, Rai?

**Raimundo:** *slurp* Good. One question, though.

**Dadles:** Yeah? What is it?

**Raimundo:** Are you keeping me prisoner, like Hazzard did?

**Dadles:** Not really, but I do kinda own you right now. No ropes, but yeah.

**Raimundo:** *sigh* Okay then. More soup, please?

**Dadles:** Well, at least you know your manners. Sure. *dishes out more yummy soup*

**Raimundo:** *slurp* You know, this isn't a very funny skit. Not that I found Hazzard's antics funny or anything, but her fanbase did.

**Dadles:** I'm a little different. Sure, I'm funny, but I show humor a little differently sometimes. Besides, frostbite isn't something to laugh at. Now read my story while I run you a bath. *Leaves the room*

**Raimundo:** O.o~~~ *looks where Dadles left* Hmm... *picks up story and starts reading*

**It's not funny, and I wasn't trying to be. But you might get a small, progressive story if y'all are good. So read and REVIEW! (O_)**

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Chapter 4

"Years ago, when I was younger, I married your grandfather, Thomas. Together, we had planned on raising a family on our estate. We only managed to have one son before a heart attack took Thomas away from me. We had planned on naming our son John, but on a whim, we named him Daniel instead. Daniel was a bright baby, able to grasp that his name was Daniel, at least. He'd look about whenever I said his name.

"On Daniel's first birthday, at the exact anniversary of his birth, his happy smile of innocence and bliss disappeared and he wailed and thrashed around in his highchair until I came to calm him. I was only cooing at him, trying to figure out why he was crying, saying 'What's wrong, what's wrong,'. At that point, he stopped wailing and whimpered at me with tears still streaming down his poor face and said, 'All of my memories have returned. Every trial, every error, my loss, my pain, everything I've done in my past lives, they've all returned! I can't grow up innocent and naïve like a child ignorant of the world. Nay! I'll never know that sweetness ever again, save the days before my first birthday in worlds that I'm born into. _That_ is why I cry and wail so in this manner, because I mourn for my innocence!'

"It was the most astonishing thing! He explained his entire life and relayed all of his memories to me. That was the most extraordinary thing of all. He was a baby, but his mind was that of a man who lived for thousands of years. When he transferred his memories to me, I went through his life _as __him_. Every life he's lived, every thought he's had, every emotion he's gone through, all his pain and all his happiness, I lived his life as if I was him. And the strangest thing is that what felt like thousands of years in my head was only just a few seconds in real life. I hope I never have to go through that again, because it left me feeling so sick, the feeling of going through so many years in a few seconds and the feeling of living the life of someone else and going through all their trials while still keeping my own consciousness in their memories.

"Throughout the years, he still acted like a child sometimes. I think that might've been because of the body he was in. He was extremely smart, though. He breezed right through school and took an interest in writing his adventures as 'fictional' stories. He went to college on scholarship and excelled. And while he was in college, he finally noticed the girl that he had gone to school with and had played with as a child. She was our neighbor and the two of them were the same age, physically at least. They played together in the same yard, went to same school, shared the same classes together, and received the same scholarship. That was the first time I noticed Fate's hand in Daniel's life.

"Daniel always told me that all of the Travelers were different from each other. The thing that separated Daniel from the other Travelers before him was the fact that he'd never fallen in love before. Never in his life did he ever marry or even kiss a girl. Of them all, he was the most virtuous one. As a result, he didn't have any children, no heirs. He didn't really want any. Said something about stopping this foolish Traveler business…" Grandma's voice trailed off. She looked like she was thinking about the past. I hadn't noticed Grandma's face as she was telling the story. I was too busy trying to imagine everything she was saying being the truth. I noticed it now, and I realized that maybe telling me these things hurt her. I mean, I know she loved him, and I kinda felt bad making her think that she had to tell me.

"Well, after he finally noticed her, he couldn't stop. All his memories of her recalled themselves to him and he remembered when they were kids and they used to play together. He once told me that she always made him forget who he was and made him think he was a kid again. She made him forget all the pain and reminded him of all his happiness, however rare it was. He never even realized that he was in love with her all that time until she confessed to him and he saw that he felt the same about her. It was a typical love story if I ever heard one. Daniel married his one and only true love and they had you. The first time he'd gotten married made for his third best of his memories, that first night they spent together made for the second best, and the first time he held you was at the very top of his list of best memories, that I can tell you for fact.

"After your 2nd birthday, he came to me and said that his time left in this world was short. Since you were his only child, you were his only heir. He told me that when his time was up, it would be your turn to take his place, so you needed to be prepared. He told me to look for specific signs, and to make sure you were happy and make you do everything you might want to do before you're not free anymore.

"He disappeared sometime after that. He never came home from work one night. Your mother, Harmony, was frantic. She couldn't stop pacing around. Eventually, I made her take a sleeping pill and go to bed. I was in your room rocking you in my arms, singing a lullaby. I saw a flash and something was glowing behind me. I turned around and Daniel was standing in front of me. He wasn't dressed like he usually was. His hair was blonder and brighter. His clothes were white and loose and he was barefoot. Everything kind of glowed and he had a wild look all around him, like he was an exotic animal. He was tanned more than he usually was and he was just so bright! He told me that that was his true form, the form of his soul. He said that his body was killed in an accident on his way home, and that he had to leave. I asked him where he was going and he just smiled kind of sadly. He kissed your forehead and said, 'I'm going to my last world. And her first. I have to prepare it for her, so she can go there someday, and start her new life.' I told him that I'd miss him and I'd help take care of your mother. And he told me to make sure Harmony didn't do anything stupid when she found out about the accident in the morning. We said our good-byes and then this giant, gaping hole appeared out of nowhere and levitated in the air. It was glowing blue and white and disappeared when Daniel stepped into it. I think even when you were a baby you realized what happened, that you'd never see him again, and you started crying and crying, you were sobbing and you said your first word while you cried. You screamed 'Daddy' over and over, calling for him and I cried with you, telling you that Daddy was gone. That was the 2nd saddest moment of my life, listening to you scream and cry for your daddy."

Briefly, I wondered what the most saddest moment in her life must have been if that was only her 2nd.

"In the morning, sure enough, a police officer came and told us the news. You were still calling 'daddy' in the morning, right when you woke up, reminding Harmony that Daniel never came home, and when the officer gave the news, she just slumped. She didn't care anymore that you learned your first word. She stopped caring. From then on, she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't hold you, she just stayed in bed. After a while, you stopped calling for your father and learned to call for your mother.

"A month passed, and then Harmony simply didn't wake up one morning. You sensed it before you woke up. I think it was 4 in the morning; you woke up right after she passed on and screamed louder than you did when your father disappeared. You were still sleeping in a crib at that age and I'm sure that if you weren't, you would've tried to run to your mother. As it is, when I woke up from your screaming and came to comfort you, you screamed , 'Mommy' over and over. It was so familiar from when you screamed for your father that I forgot about you completely and ran to Harmony's room to find her in her bed, dead. Listening to you scream and moan for your mother made for the ultimate saddest moment in my life."

_Ah._

"After that, I raised you the way your father wanted me to. Now, I suspect Daniel is dead, because here you are. Your journey will start soon, and you will go to the world your father left you for." Grandma heaved a giant sigh and wiped her eyes with the handkerchief she had pulled out while she telling the story. I wiped away the tears that had snuck out and sniffed.

"Supposing this is all real, and I think I believe it, because you've never lied to me about anything before, but supposing it is real, what are you going to do when I'm gone?" I asked in a shaky voice. Grandma's never been alone since she met Grandpa Thomas, because she always had Dad, and Mom played in the yard when she and Dad were kids. Then when Dad got married to Mom, they always lived with Grandma in the huge mansion that's been passed down in my family for generations. When Dad died, Grandma had Mom and me, and when Mom died, Grandma still had me. What would happen to her if _I_ died? How would she feel if she outlived ALL of her descendants? Our entire family line would die with me.

"Grandma, can you promise me something?"

"Sure, Angel."

"Promise me that if I do die, you won't live alone?" Grandma thought for a moment before she answered, "I promise. I'm sure that I can find Roger and see if he wants to come back to live with me. I'm sure he'd love to. And even if you don't die, I'll still try and get him here. You haven't seen him in 5 years."

"Good." I don't who Roger is, but if Grandma thinks he can be trusted, then I can trust him.

The door opened and my damn nurse came in.

"Ma'am, visiting hours are over. You need to leave now." Brooke's snooty mother said.

"God, I hate that woman…" Grandma muttered low enough that Brooke's mother couldn't hear, but I could. I laughed.

I watched her leave and she looked back one more time.

"Bye, Grandma. Love you." I called. She smiled.

"Bye, Angel. Love you, too. And good luck darling."

And I watched the door close. For some unknown reason, I actually believed Grandma's story. The sound of the door closing echoed with a sense of finality, and I shivered as the sinister feeling passed over me, as if it would be a very long time before I would see my grandma, or even my home, again.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Review please!**

**Raimundo:** Hey, I'm not even in this yet!

**Dadles:** If you read all the previous stuff, you'd know that you aren't involved until later. Hope you're looking forward to it!

**Raimundo:** *looks up startled* Umm, how long have you been standing there?

**Dadles:** A while. It doesn't take long to run a bath. Actually, I figured you'd read my story first, so I waited a while before I started it. Now come on. You have JackBot grease all over you and a hot bath will definately help you warm up. *turns towards doorway again*

**Raimundo:** Wait!

**Dadles:** *stops. turns* What?

**Raimundo:** *rifles through pockets and pulls out picture* When you get in touch with Hazzard, give this to her. I'd really hate for her to kill me for not getting her "first-hand" phot of a penguin. You know how **HARD** that was?

**Dadles:** *smirks at photo* I can imagine. Seeing as there ARE NO PENGUINS at the North Pole.

**Raimundo:** SSSSSSHHHHHHHH! Don't tell Hazzard! *pleads*

**Dadles:** *blinks in surprise* Please don't beg. It ruins my image of you. *leads Raimundo to his bath*

_**See you next week!**_


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter update! Right on time! Oh, my gawd, this week has been so busy! I'm in a speech class, and we have to do our exam speeches early! Mine is today, Thursday, and I'm doing mine on creative writing and I'm promoting FanFiction at the same time! If you're wondering why I'm updating a day early, it's cos I'm in the shithole at home and I don't have my laptop to update from. I've been doing updates from school for the past few weeks, but my stupid Digital Multimedia Design teacher is a total monotone jackass who restricts the internet so that you can only go to seven sites. Google isn't even allowed! So, today is the only day this week I'll be able to do this.**

**Raimundo: **Is this the chapter that I'm in?

**Dadles:** Yep! Internet is unrestricted right now, so hurry up and read it!

**Raimundo:** ...Umm, are you okay? You're all dressed-up fancy and you're hyper.

**Dadles:** Yeah! I'm fine. I have an awesome speech planned out, I'm getting to post an update, I'm on the Internet, Valentine's day was a blast, and I have you! Why wouldn't I be happy?

**Raimundo:** Crap. I'm stuck with another fangirl.

**Dadles:** I'm not just any other fangirl, Rai! In fact, I'm less of a fangirl, now than I was then. I was, like, totally in love with you when the show was still being aired. Now that I've grown up, I can handle being friends! Besides, you're meant for someone else. By the way, what did you get Hazzard for Valentines Day?

**Raimundo:** *brain explodes cos he didn't get Hazzard anything*

**Dadles:** *laughs* Read the story people!

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Chapter 5

I woke up later in the night from a nightmare. In the nightmare, I wore a strange, white sort of clothing. I was scared and running barefoot through the darkness. I don't know what I was running from, but I knew it was gaining on me, from the strange sense dreamers often have of knowing something without knowing it. It was weird. Ahead of me, there was only darkness, not even a single pin-point of light, and I was the only thing visible in all of the pitch black. I was completely surrounded by the darkness, it pressed against me from all angles, slowing me down, clinging to me in sticky clumps and wads, wrapping its cold tendrils around me and eventually dragging me back, into the jaws of some dark, unseen evil monster, their glowing red eyes finally piercing the darkness.

I shot straight up breathing heavy, my heart pounding against my chest, and I looked around my room. No monster in sight and the full moon shown through my window, illuminating the room, banishing any darkness in pearly white light.

I lay down again, still in my hospital bed. Figures. I haven't had a nightmare in ages, and now, of all nights, I do! I closed my eyes but I didn't fall asleep. I don't want to fall back into the dream. What's really weird, is that I don't know why I was scared, aside from the getting eaten part. It's not like I'm scared of the dark. I was never scared of the dark, even as a little kid.

I don't know how long I lay there with my thoughts spinning in my head, trying to calm down. I thought about all the things that Grandma said. It couldn't really be true, can it? Even though I believe it, it doesn't mean it's real. _Why not? You remember the graveyard, don't you? A flash of a fading memory. You saw Mother, turning her back on you and disappearing._ Yes, I told myself. I remember. But the doctor said it was a mild hallucination caused by the flu medication I was taking. I never forgot that Mom loved Dad more than me. The fact that she's not here right now is proof of that. She had died from grief, never caring about her 2-year-old daughter. She couldn't even stand to look at me, let alone hold me or stay with me.

I had almost drifted off again, into what I'm sure what would have been a fitful sleep, when I heard my door creak. I was tempted to sit up again, but something, I guess you can say intuition, told me not to, at least not yet. Soft footsteps padded into the room to my bed—

"I hate you." A cold, sinister voice whispered. "I hate you and your self-lifting ways. It's a good thing you don't know me or else I would've had to do this differently. How dare you! My daughter is the best, she is going to win! Every year, she was going to win! But you! I knew whose daughter you were from the instant I saw you. I knew your damn mother; she thought herself high and mighty just like you! I could never beat her and she rubbed my face in it! I'll be damned if you're going to do that to **MY** daughter! My daughter will win. And you are the only thing standing in the way of that!"

Immediately, I turned over and looked up at her. She wasn't looking at me. She had a large syringe of a clear liquid that she was injecting into my fluid bag. Too late, I realized what Brooke's mother was doing. She glanced down at me.

"Oh, so you _are_ awake. Good. It takes all the fun out of taunting you if you're asleep. I don't want my words to be wasted." She smiled at me, the intent of mad revenge clearly flashing menacingly from her eyes. My temper flared. If I'm gonna die, I'll at least get a good kick to her face! What a sick and twisted mind she must have, to steal the life of a young girl and euthanize her, as if she was a dog, just so her own selfish daughter could win at something not worth killing over.

She must have seen the resolve in my eyes, because she quickly shot the rest of the liquid into my little bag and stepped away quickly before I could get a shot at her.

She chuckled evilly. "Too late, you evil brat. What's done is done. You have absolutely no chance, now." Her eyes watched me with sick distaste, and my blood continued to boil with anger at what she'd done to me. How dare she? I wasn't at fault. What crime did I commit?

_Hush, now, little one. Just let it go. I promise that you will have your revenge one day. I promise you. Let it go and move on, and be happy that you will feel no pain. Just sleep peacefully, now._ A soft, gentle voice rang in my head. It took me off guard. I knew about 'though-speak' through reading different novels, but it was different when it was actually happening. That and I didn't really believe it to be real. The voice had a golden ring to it, though, if that were possible, and it reminded me of a mother's voice, full of love and compassion.

"In about five minutes, you'll be dead. How does that sound, hmm? My daughter will win and live free of your troublesome self. My daughter wins! _I_ win!" Her laughter is starting to piss me off. Fine, I told myself. If I must die, then I want to get my shots in while I still have the chance.

I smiled and thought of things I could say. Brooke's mother saw my expression change and said, "What are you smiling about, you unpleasant child? Are you stupid?" My smile grew and I let out a low chuckle.

"It doesn't count as a win if it's by default," I laughed. "You think you're winning? HA! I have the last word, the last action, the last laugh. If I die, neither you nor Brooke will ever technically win against me. If I no longer exist, then who do you have to compete against, hmm? This isn't a game; it's called reality. There is no winning or losing, and it's a shame that you need to put things into those sort of terms to understand something. It doesn't matter anymore, anyway. You'll never win, now. You killed your chances of ever beating me by killing me. How would your precious daughter feel if she knew that you took away her chances at ever fairly winning? Her own mother cheated her out of that."

"No one will ever know about this. No one even cares! And you won't be around to tell anyone about this ever happening, you brainless child!"

"I _will_ be back one day. If only for one day, then the whole world will know what you've done. And the whole world _will_ know, because people everywhere will want to hear about the girl who came back from the dead to bring her murderer to justice. And _you_ will be the world's villain." I laughed again. "How would poor Brooke react to knowing she's the daughter of a murderer?"

Her hand shot forward and slapped me clear across my face.

"THAT is for all the trouble you've caused me," She said vehemently. I rubbed the spot where her hand had struck. She slapped my other cheek. "And _that_ is for speaking such foolish garbage." She said mockingly.

My body felt weak all of a sudden. There wasn't any pain, aside from the cold sting of the slap, but all the same, I felt as if something inside me really _was_ failing. Brooke's mother noticed.

"Ah, going so soon?" she taunted. "Don't worry. I'm sure that we'll meet again in Hell!" she laughed. Well, damn.

I struggled to keep my eyes open as she left the room. I can't die yet. I still have to wipe that smug look off her cursed face. At the very least, I have to leave some beginning of suspicion against her. So struggling against my lead filled limbs, I crawled to the end of my bed and grabbed the clipboard hanging there. Boy was I in luck! The doctors kept a pen attached! I picked up the pen and scrawled across the sheet: 'Murder' Damn! I was going to write her name, but I don't know it!

"AH!" I gasped. The clipboard dropped into my lap and I slumped against my pillows. It was becoming painful to stay awake.

"Damn her…" I muttered. I heard the beeping at my bedside turn into a monotonous whine. My line was dead. I felt myself slipping away as my blood congealed and my organs failed. However, the sensation only lasted a few seconds, and the darkness enveloped me, just like in my nightmare. But it didn't last long. A few seconds later, I found myself blinking in the bright light.

"Hello, Angel," a voice called. I jumped. "Don't be afraid. Come closer dear."

Automatically, I stepped forward. I walked toward where I thought I heard the voice coming from. It's hard to tell, though, because it echoed all around me. Before long, a figure cloaked in a white shroud appeared before my eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Fate. Welcome, my dear Angel, to the center of all existence."

I blinked at her.

"You are here to start your new life. Your father left you when you were still a baby to prepare you for your first world. I'm going to get straight to the point because it is almost time for you to go. Now, I know your grandmother told you the story of your father while he was in the world you just left. I'm going to tell you the rest of the story. Are you listening?" the woman named Fate said. There was no doubt in my mind that it was her voice that I heard before.

"I'm dead then." I said bluntly. "Well, I guess I don't have a choice, do I? I'm listening." I said. Fate waved her hand and two white chairs appeared. She motioned for me to sit, so I did. That's when I noticed what I wearing.

Instead of the hospital gown I wore before, I was in a simple white dress. Spaghetti strapped, the bodice came down to just above my breasts and the end of the skirt came down only mid-thigh. I also noticed that on my left leg, an anklet made of tiny white daisies was wrapped delicately around my ankle.

I looked up, confused. Fate smiled.

"I am capable of many of things, Angel. As I said, I am Fate. It is because I exist that mankind as well as all life in the universes and multiverses exist at all. Opportunity, as well, has this influence. Without him, nothing would ever happen at all. We keep an eye on this universe along with everything else. In your culture, we would be considered high gods.

"However, within all the worlds, little fluctuations in the paths of destiny and fate tangle up the threads and get disturbed. The multiverse is flawed. The greatest thing about that, though, is that it can be fixed and balanced. Nothing is ever perfect, but things _do_ need to be balanced. It is up to the Traveler to go to each world and influence it in some way so that it doesn't careen out of control and destroy itself or others. In your case, you will travel to worlds that you already know about."

I scratched my head and looked up at her. I think I'm getting it. But she could just ease me into it? It seems a bit to soon.

"Did you know that in worlds where there exists no magic, the thoughts and ideas of some people are actually visions of other worlds? What I mean is, every book or story told in some way is thought to be an idea, but in reality, it is a window to another world. They can view it and see a specific story and make something of it, but they don't know that the visions are _real_ and not their own idea. Many of the books, TV shows, and movies that you've come into contact with are worlds that you will visit. You must find your own purpose in each world and live your life until it is time for you to leave.

"Your first world was your father's last. He died there. The time that you will arrive is 1500 years after his death. I believe that he has left a special friend for you there. He's still alive, too, if you can believe it. Your father also bade me to give you this." Fate circled her hands in the air as if she was holding a ball. A glowing light appeared between her fingers, and then was sucked away to reveal a little golden locket in the shape of a heart. She let the locket fall into her hands and she stood and fastened the locket around my neck. Immediately, the thin golden chain tightened to nestle the locket perfectly into the hollow of my throat.

"Your father made that for you. It will help you along your journeys. You must cherish it."

"Daddy made this for me?" I asked. "What does it do?"

"I don't know yet. You haven't used it."

"Oh." I fingered the locket carefully, examining it with my fingers.

"Hey, it's engraved!" I said. I felt around the back, where I felt the grooves carved into the metal.

"It says, 'Angel of my heart', and it's decorated with a feather pattern," Fate said. "There's a keyhole, too. Your father has the key with him. Eventually, you'll find the key that he hid all of those years ago. With it, you'll be able to find your father. All you need to remember is that you hold his heart." Fate stood up and both the chairs disappeared.

"Oof!" I fell flat on my butt. "Couldn't you wait until I stood up, too?"

"I could've, but it was funnier to watch you fall. Humor is hard to come by here."

"Ha-ha. So you _do_ have a sense of humor." Chuckling, Fate held out her hand and helped me up.

"It's time for you to leave, now, Angel. When you get there, your wound will be reinflicted and you'll be in a lot of pain. Your new friends will help you, though, so you don't need to worry much."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed.

"And you'll forget your name, too. You'll have to come up with a new one for yourself." Fate continued on as if she didn't hear me. "Now, go!"

"But wait!"

A vortex opened up behind me; Fate pushed me in and the sudden rush of wind scooped me up as it sucked the air out of me. I screamed as it closed around me and I began falling. I was still screaming as blue and white sparks swirled around me in the glowing tunnel. And my screams only got louder as I could feel the gunshot wound being reinflicted upon me.

I was only in the tunnel for a few moments before I felt it open up. The next thing I knew, I was falling through the air; I hit the ground so hard that my stomach felt sick and hollow.

Still screaming and crying, I writhed in pain. The agony! The wound was less damaging, but DAMN! It hurt _twice_ as much as the first time! Maybe Opportunity was keeping most of the pain away as well, in the alley.

Hands were all around me and the voices were too muddled. I couldn't hear them through the pain. I couldn't see anything because my eyes were screwed tightly shut against the pain. Then I felt a slight pressure on my neck, and the world went black. I could still feel things, though. The pain was at the front of my brain, number one on my list of concerns. It crowded my mind. But in the background, I had the sensation of floating on air, like I was being carried. I could tell that I was still bleeding horribly, and my tears were still trickling in a steady stream down my face, but my screams were reduced to unconscious whimpers and moans. I was cold all over.

The pain made my brain throb, and none too gently at that; it made everything else disappear. I was alone in the darkness, able to do nothing but endure the pain. God, is this Hell?

* * *

**And there you go! End of chapter. I know, I'm a stinker with the cliff-hangers. But I'm kinda good at them, so you can't blame me. (Ok, yes you can) I know Raimundo doesn't have a part here, but trust me, he'll have a whole chapter to himself next week! Ta!**

**AND REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 6

**Hello again! Chapter update! This is the chapter that Raimundo gets all to himself! WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS! Somewhere in this chapter, there is a basic summary of episode two of season one for Xiaolin Showdown. Though everything from this point on is different from the original Storyline in Xiaolin Showdown, I DO NOT OWN XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN OR ANY OF IT'S ORIGINAL CHARCATERS, OBJECTS, OR LOCATIONS. THE STUFF THAT IS MINE IS OBVIOUS!**

**Raimundo:** Hey! You don't have to shout!

**Dadles:** Of course I have to shout! It's how I get my point across!

**Raimundo:** But you don't _need_ to get your point across! It's the Internet! Who cares?

**Dadles:** Well obviously **_I _**do! And I _totally _need to get my point across! That's why I need to shout!

**Raimundo:** You don't need to shout to get your stinkin' point across!

**Dadles:** _**YES I DO! And my points don't STINK either!**_

**Raimundo:** Stop shouting!

**Dadles:** Shut-up! You're shouting too! And don't tell me what to do!

**Raimundo:** Then don't tell me what to do!

**Dadles: Dammit! HAZZARD!**

**Raimundo:** Okay, okay! You win! I'll stop shouting!

**Dadles:** Aaaaaand...?

**Raimundo:** And? OH! And I won't try and tell you what to do, either!

**Dadles:** Good boy! Now read the damn chapter featuring you!

* * *

Chapter 6

Raimundo

Dojo landed on the temple grounds, near the training course we had all gone through this morning. Clay still had on a stupid grin, a result of winning a Xiaolin Showdown against Jack Spicer. Master Fong came outside to greet us.

"Well done, my young warriors. I see that you have obtained the **Fist of Tabigong**."

"We got trapped in an invisible box by a mime! Oh, and Clay won a showdown against Jack." Kimiko said as she hopped off of Dojo. I quickly followed, as did Omi and Clay.

Omi stood before Master Fong.

"Master," he said, bowing his head. "I think I understand now what you said this morning." He turned to Clay. "And Clay, I am sorry that I ever doubted you. Can you forgive me, my friend?"

"Why, sure li'l partner!" Clay said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, Clay's da big hero, whoopee. Can I go try the **Eye of Dashi**, now?" I said. "OW!" Kimiko elbowed me in the ribs. "What was that for?" I asked.

"For your lousy attitude." She replied.

"Aw, come on! We wouldn't have even gotten out if I hadn't discovered you could just imagine your way out!"

"_Omi_ is the one who actually got us out, for imagining the door, Rai, so don't try and take credit!"

"Yeah, well, he wouldn't have even come up with that idea if it wasn't for me!"

"Friends, friends! We shouldn't be fighting! Even though my tactic was ingenious also, Clay still deserves praise!" Omi bud in. I looked at Kimiko and she looked at me. As if we had planned it together, we both conked Omi on the head at the same time.

"Oww…"

A sudden chill was creeping up my spine.

"Brrr! Does anyone else feel that?"I shivered.

"Yeah, it's really creepy."

"Hey, does anyone else feel like something important is about to happen?" Dojo said.

"What, like a Shen-Gong-Wu?" Kimiko asked. He replied with, "No, close to that, but way different. It's strange, I'm getting this nagging feeling in the back of my mind, like I'm forgetting something familiar…" His voice trailed off.

"Oh, I do that all the time. Usually I remember before it's too late, so I wouldn't worry about it." I said.

The wind began to pick up a little. The leaves rustled in the trees so loudly, it almost sounded like distant screaming.

"Wait a minute," I said. "That _IS_ screaming!" We all looked up. A crack of blue lightning sizzled right above our heads and a swirling vortex of sparks and stars followed in its wake.

"Oh, right. I remember now! Dashi dropped out of one these things when I met him! Wonder who's gonna come out now…" Dojo said.

"What do you mean, 'dropped out'?"

"Oh, right, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that. Heh-heh, my bad!" he said guiltily.

The screaming suddenly became louder and clearer.

"I'm gonna laugh if it's a dude," I said. "Cos that sounds exactly like a chick—" I was cut off shortly. The reason is because the screamer had finally dropped out of the vortex.

It closed up as soon as it had dropped her. The girl was screeching her head off and thrashing about, like she was having a seizure. Howls of pure agony ripped the air apart and all was silent except for her cries.

It takes a moment for us to register that she's hurt, perhaps mortally so. As soon as we realized it, we rushed into action. Master Fong was faster than the rest of us, but even he couldn't get past the flailing limbs that barred us from getting to her. She was wounded, but strong, and Master Fong didn't want to hurt her. Trying to help her would be harder than beating Jack!

Somehow, we managed to pin her arms and Master Fong did something that I couldn't see. The girl's screaming choked off with a pained gurgle and she was still. Or, mostly still, I should say. She was shivering violently, as if the battle she waged against us was still going on inside her. Her body convulsed every few seconds. Tears were streaming thickly down her face and her breathing faltered, sounding too harsh, too ragged. And to top it all off, she was soaked in blood. Her clothing was ripped up and the blood oozing out of a wound in her side made the cloth cling to her, almost as if it were a part of her body.

Omi started to look a little sick. He was staring at his hands, which were covered in blood. I looked down at my own tunic and saw it was smeared and stained. I felt bad for Kimiko, because, though she couldn't see it, she had a lot of blood streaked into her hair. I don't know whether I should tell her or not.

Master Fong lifted up the shaking body, still crying and bleeding, and carried her into the temple.

"Go and clean yourselves up," he said as he walked away. Before he could say anything else, Kimiko and Omi were rushing to the bathroom, Omi to wash his hands, and Kimiko to take a shower. I guess she knows she has blood in her hair already, I thought. I ran after Master Fong and opened the door for him.

"Go, Raimundo. Wash up. Tell the others that chores are cancelled for today." I nodded and closed the door behind him.

Clay was hosing himself off, clothes and all. He hosed me off, too, and then sprayed the blood-stained ground until it was muddy and all the blood was washed clean away. When Kimiko came back, she was showered and changed into new clothes. Omi looked like he had changed, too. He still looked sick.

"You okay, li'l buddy?" Clay asked softly. Omi gave a slight shiver and nodded.

"Hey, did you get the blood outta your hair?" I asked Kimiko.

"What? There was blood in my hair? Oh, I am SO glad I washed it again! Why didn't you tell me before?" she said.

"Well, gee, I thought you knew already."

"If I had, I would have been gone before Master Fong had even finished the word 'go'." She shuddered. "Eew. Just, eew. I hope I never have to do something like that again. I _definitely_ don't want to be a doctor when I grow up."

"I've never seen someone else's blood before. And hardly ever mine. That was most unnerving." Omi murmured.

"Well, we have nothing to do, I guess. Master Fong says no chores today." I said. Kimiko looked around in a sad way.

"That poor girl. It must have been _terrible_! Did you see it? That giant hole in her side? I wonder what could have done that. And she must have been in so much pain! Kicking and screaming from a grown girl like her is way scarier than just any bratty little kid throwing a temper tantrum. Especially crying and bleeding like that." Kimiko's voice was sympathetic. To tell you the truth, I felt bad for the girl, too.

"She punched me in the face like she was a prized fighter. Dang, that hurt! I ain't ever been punched by a girl like that before in my life!" Clay rubbed his jaw bone. It was starting to turn red.

"Yeah, she clipped my nose with her foot. And did you see? She was barely dressed. All that she was wearing were torn rags. Not even a pair of shoes." I said. I wonder where she came from, anyway.

"You _would_ notice what she was wearing, Rai." Kimiko said.

We all sat together under one of the trees on the temple grounds and kinda talked about it. Most of the time, we sat still and silent. I felt as if things had taken an unexpected, sudden turn into a completely different direction than the path that had originally been planned for us. I felt as if Fate had cut the strings on the loom and was letting them fly freely about. It didn't quite feel right.

After about two hours, Master Fong found us and led us inside, to the room where he had put the girl. She was lying down on her back, eyes closed. Most of the blood was cleaned up. All that we could see of it were the blood-soaked rags in a small bowl.

I sat down and looked at the girl. Her hair was tangled and messy, but I thought that if it was brushed, it would lie straight. It was pale blonde, and it was long, as if she had never had it cut. Little wisps of hair floated around her face, which didn't show the pain as it once had. A little color had returned to her pale face and she looked somewhat peaceful in her sleep, despite the pain she had endured.

"Can she feel anything?" I asked. Dojo shook his head.

"We don't know. She hasn't woken up, yet. She didn't lose too much blood, though. It looked a lot worse than it actually was," he said.

The others sat down near the girl.

"Listen…" Dojo said. We stayed quiet, straining to hear what he was listening to.

"Is—is that music? Where's it coming from?" Kimiko said. I could hear it, now.

I'd never heard it before, and it was so faint, I could barely hear it at all. it sounded like a rock song or something. I could still make out the words. It seemed to be coming from the girl… as if a radio or a CD was playing inside her…

_Memories consume_

_Like opening the wound_

_I'm picking me apart again_

_You all assume_

_I'm safe here in my room_

_Unless I try to start again_

_I don't want to be the one_

_The battles always choose_

'_Cause inside I realize_

_That I'm the one confused_

_I don't know what's worth fighting for_

_Or why I have to scream_

_I don't know why I instigate_

_And say what I don't mean_

_I don't know I got this way_

_I know it's not alright_

_So I'm breaking the habit_

_I'm breaking the habit tonight_

_Clutching my cure_

_I tightly lock the door_

_I try to catch my breath again_

_I hurt much more_

_Than any time before_

_I had no options left again_

_I don't want to be the one_

_The battles always choose_

'_Cause inside I realize_

_That I'm the one confused_

_I don't know what's worth fighting for_

_Or why I have to scream_

_I don't know why I instigate_

_And say what I don't mean_

_I don't know how I got this way_

_I'll never be alright_

_So I'm breaking the habit_

_I'm breaking the habit tonight_

_I'll paint it on the walls_

'_Cause I'm the one at fault_

_I'll never fight again_

_And this is how it ends_

_I don't know what's worth fighting for_

_Or why I have to scream_

_But now I have some clarity_

_To show you what I mean_

_I don't know how I got this way_

_I'll never be alright_

_So I'm breaking the habit_

_I'm breaking the habit_

_I'm breaking the habit tonight_

Three minutes after the song started, it faded away and gave in to consciousness. A second passed and the girl's eyes opened slowly, like she was waking up from a dream.

"Nnn…" the girl muttered. She sat up. "Dammit, that hurt… huh? Where am I? What's goin' on?" She looked around like she was confused, which, I don't blame her. If I woke up in a strange place I'd probably be confused too. She jumped when she saw us, like we startled her. She blinked a few times, then as comprehension dawned on her face, shouted, "Holy shiz! I know you guys!"

Despite myself, and the tension, I busted up laughing.

"Holy Shiz,' huh? I haven't heard that before, but I guess it's better than some things you could say." I said. The girl blushed.

"How do you feel?" Master Fong asked her. She shook her head. She looked up at Master Fong and said in a shaky voice, "I can't remember my name. I still remember my life and past, and everything else, but I don't know my name… just like she said."

"Who is 'she'?" Omi asked. The girl looked away from us.

"It's a weird story, and long, too. I don't think you'd entirely believe me if I told you."

"We will listen, if you will tell us. Your wound is serious enough to raise questions, as it is, and the way you appeared as well." Master Fong assured her. She nodded her head. Taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh, she faced us again and opened her mouth to speak. I briefly wondered what she meant when she said she knew us.

"I'm getting a really weird feeling right know. Like she wants me to tell you everything. My life, at the very least. You have the right to know, especially since you're taking care of me for now. The first thing you should know is that I come from a different world than this. I mean, it's nearly the same—well, I guess not and all, but it's hard to explain. Let me start again." The girl wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. Master Fong said, "It's alright , you don't have to tell us now. You need to rest and heal." The girl ignored him and resumed speaking.

"When I was just 2 years old, my father died in a car accident." she started. Uh-oh. She wasn't kidding about telling us her life. She just jumped right in, right when she woke up! "About a month or two later, Mom died in her sleep from all her grief. So I'm an orphan. I know she loved me, but she loved my dad a bit more. So, since we had all been living with Grandma and I had no parents anymore, it was left to Grandma to raise me. Grandma spent her life putting me through all sorts of extracurricular activities, everything from sewing to self-defense, and anything in between. If she could find something she could get me in, she did. And it didn't matter that I was new to it, whatever it was, or that I was so young, I ended up being good at it.

"Grandma's excuse was that it was my father's wish to make me do all these things. It frustrated me, not to mention all the other students. Most of the time, these activities were advertised by the school, so a lot of my classmates would be there too. They saw me as someone who wanted the spotlight. In reality, I would rather have not had the spotlight at all. They didn't like me very much. Especially one girl named Brooke… But none the less, I was forced to participate." What is she doing? Why is she telling us her life story? I mean, what kind of person is that open and that comfortable with telling complete strangers about her life?

"One of the things that I actually liked doing was the performing arts, or just the arts in general. I stayed there the longest. In fact I was still there up until… recently. Last night in my world. We had different units on different things. One unit, we'd be painting, and the next we'd be sculpting. We'd have a showcase at the end each unit, and give out prizes to best art works and such. After a while of me getting all three prizes, one for each of my best pieces, the directors decided that they should add a new regulation stating that only one prize per artist. The judges had to vote on which one of my pieces was the best out of all of them after that.

"The latest unit we just finished was one on dance. Ballet, in fact. And I'm wearing the remains of my suit, if I can even call it that anymore. When we finished the unit, we held a dance recital, which was just the night before last. I was the last one to perform that night." The girl shuddered again, as if it was an unpleasant memory.

"It was the end of the unit, which meant that we could go crazy with our costumes and everything else, and choose our own music to dance to. The only rules were that we couldn't dress obscenely or play anything offensive, and we had to stick to the dancing style.

"After the show was over, everyone went home. The next day in class was free day. As usual, the one girl named Brooke, got snippy and bullied me, trying to get the other girls to be nasty to me too. They started asking me questions about my parents and I got upset. They didn't know anything about them, never seen them, and I never talked about them, so they were curious. Brooke started bad mouthing them and I lost my temper and punched her, which was a first for me. I NEVER lose my temper. Then I ran to the locker room to grab my things and I left. I didn't even bother to change back into my street clothes. I just walked out the back door into the alley. I used that way all the time because I didn't want to walk out the front door with all the other girls, or walk home with them. If they knew where I lived they'd hate me even more.

"How was I supposed to know that the bank across the street was being robbed? I didn't think anything of the lights or sirens, or the cop cars in front of the bank. I had just closed the door behind me and turned around towards the opening of the alley, and then I was shot. The robber had been outside and the gun went off in his hands. It was pure misfortune that it hit me. I barely made it outside the alley before I fainted on the sidewalk, pouring out blood." The girl's breathing was becoming strained with every word. Kimiko's eyes were wide and a cold feeling kept up my spine. This isn't comfortable for the girl at all. Not for any of us. Exactly what is possessing her to tell us? I was dreading what would happen next.

"When I woke up, it was in the middle of operating. The bullet had ripped through my liver and completely destroyed it, so I needed a new one. On top of that, I lost a lot of blood, so I needed more of that as well. The doctors thought they had me sedated enough, but I was still aware of everything while they operated, like the sedatives only put me out half-way. After the operating was done, Grandma eventually got to see me. That's when she told me the story of my father.

"She said that he was the **Traveler**, whatever that is, and that he left to prepare his very last world to be my first. It sounded crazy, but I believed her. Something inside me told me it was the truth, however unbelievable. Grandma said that I was close to death. The angel, Opportunity, saved me in the alley, sapping most of the pain away so I could save myself and allow my death to delay. But it was inevitable, she said. She said that Fate was letting her fulfill the last request of my father before he left that world. He wanted her to tell me what was going on, where I was going, and what my new life would be like. Grandma didn't know very many details, but she did her best. She said that since I was the only child my father had ever had in all the worlds that he visited, I was also his only heir. When he officially died, when it was time, I would be the next Traveler. And it must be my time, because I'm here now. Grandma gave me her love and conveyed my father's to me, then left, because visiting hours were over." The girl paused and drew a long, shaky breath. When she spoke again, her voice was low and barely above a whisper.

"Grandma was right about my impending death. Later that night, I was murdered." We all gasped. A tear began to trail down the girl's face. She continued on in a pained voice. "It was my nurse that did it. She was the mother of the mean girl I competed against. She happened to know my mother and apparently they were rivals as kids. She hated my mother and hated me even more. I woke up from a bad dream and I couldn't sleep, so I was just laying there, awake. She came in and thought I was sleeping, so she started talking to me, saying how much she hated me and how I was just like my mother, and how dare I be better than her daughter, and all sorts of stuff. I turned over and saw her injecting this clear liquid into my fluid bag. I knew what she was doing and I realized that I was going to die." The girl choked on those last words. "Can you imagine it? Knowing that in just a few short moments, you're going to die?" She gulped for air. "We traded threats, and then she left, taunting me, because I was already falling asleep again. Or I suppose I was dying. It felt wrong. There was no pain. I think I would've rathered the pain, so I could at least feel a sense of relief when I died. Before I could die, though, I grabbed the clipboard at the end of my bed and I was gonna write that my nurse murdered me, but I only got to write, 'murdered' Then I died. I was only gone for a second. I didn't even notice it. But then I just sorta, I don't know, appeared in a great white place.

"The room was so bright; I had to squint my eyes to see. Not that there was anything to see anyway. There was nothing but white. I felt like I was blind, only with light instead of dark. I heard a voice that called to me and I walked towards it. A woman appeared and said her name was Fate. She told me that we were in the center of all existence.

"We talked some. She said that I needed to hurry, so she was going to tell me quickly some of the things I needed to know. I was the new Traveler. My father had been the Traveler before me. My father left me a friend in the world I was going to, and he's still alive. I would be arriving 1500 years after my father's death in this world. I would forget my name and I needed to make a new one. And I would know most of the worlds that I would travel to, because of where I'm from.

"Fate said that the world I came from was non-magical. Nothing magical ever happened, save for very rare incidences that only Fate allowed. This meant that the ideas and stories that other people had were most likely not their own, but instead were really visions of other worlds. Most TV shows and movies I've seen, as well as books that I've read, are real worlds that I'll visit someday. The minds of others are my windows to those other worlds. What they believe to be their own ideas are just visions, but they are compelled to get the story that they see in their mind down on real paper, or into a movie or television show, somehow, as long as it gets out to the rest of the world, because chances are, the person they are meant for will eventually see them.

"After telling me all this, Fate gave me a gift that my father had entrusted her to give to me, to help me along with my journeys. A little golden locket with the words, 'Angel of my heart' engraved into the back of it. Then Fate told me that when I entered the portal, my wound would be reinflicted and I'd fall to my first world, to be at the mercy of familiar strangers. Before I knew it, she had pushed me into an open portal behind me and I fell, screaming from surprise and pain. So now, here I am."

The girl sighed. I looked around. Master Fong was surprised and at a loss for words. Dojo was shaking and looked really pale. Before anyone could do anything, the girl spoke up again. "I've decided on a new name for me. I wish to be called 'Melody'."

Dojo was the first to speak.

"I know you. If what you're saying is the truth, and I don't see how you could lie about it, then I knew your father. He was a great guy, I'll have you know. He told me that you'd forget your real name, so I won't say it. He told me stories of his past lives, and he talked a lot about you and Harmony." As he said this, he slivered closer to Melody.

"That's my mother's name! So then you're the friend that Daddy left behind? And you're Dojo, right? Hmm… I'm in the world from Xiaolin Showdown, with the newest Xiaolin warriors, let's see… 1500 years ago, Grand Master Dashi defeated Wuya, made the Xiaolin Temple, created the Shen-Gong-Wu then hid them, and chose Xiaolin warriors, I think. Dojo was his best friend, 1500 years ago and is still alive today, so that means… Dashi is my father?" The statement ended as a question.

"Yep." Dojo said, grinning. "You know how long I've been waiting to tell someone that? But Dashi said to wait until you showed up 1500 years later. I'd almost forgotten. I might've, but with that kind of information I couldn't forget, 'cos I kept wanting to tell someone and I was waitin' for you so I _could_ tell. Dashi was the Traveler and he had a wife and daughter!" Dojo laughed. Omi stood up.

"Dashi had a _**CHILD**_? It was never in the legends! Even if it was kept secret, wouldn't it be in the legends that Dashi set himself?" Omi shouted.

"Uh, no. If Dashi wanted it kept secret, he wouldn't have told of it in the legends. It sounds as if he only told Dojo." Kimiko said.

"And since Dojo says that you are the daughter of Dashi, you are welcome here for as long as you please. Now, you must be hungry. Would you like something to eat?" Master Fong asked Melody. Clever change of subject, I noticed. The girl, newly named Melody, nodded her head and Master Fong left the room. We were silent. To tell you the truth, I didn't know how I should feel about her. She was just a normal girl who got thrown into something bigger than she was, and now she finds out her father was a great legend. She was a normal kid, yet she was the daughter of someone greatly respected, the man who created the very objects we're searching for and also the one who defeated the evil witch Wuya. I felt bad for her, then felt bad for feeling bad for her. I mean, I wouldn't want someone to feel bad for me if my father died and left me behind, and my mother died soon after because she loved him more than me. Then, again, with what she said before, she's apparently good at everything. I imagine she's just taking this in stride. Plus, now she's supposed to be someone great, just like her father.

"So how far have you gotten? With the Shen Gong Wu, I mean." I jumped. Melody had broken a silence I didn't realized had grown.

"What do you mean?" Kimiko asked.

"I meant what Shen Gong Wu you have so far." Melody answered.

"Oh, well, so far we only have four Wu: the **Mantis Flip Coin**, **Third-Arm Sash**, **Eye of Dashi**, and now the **Fist of Tabigong**." Kimiko said.

"Did you _just_ get the **Fist of Tabigong**?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Because that means I've arrived early on in the series. Back home, I kept up with a lot of TV shows, never missing a series. One of my favorites was one called _Xiaolin Showdown_. That's where we are now. If you just won the **Fist of Tabigong**, then in my world, that would be episode two of season one."

"How many seasons are there?" Clay asked.

"There's 3 seasons, made up of 52 episodes. This is episode 2 in my world"

"Really? Well, tell us about this 'Episode Two'" I said. Melody shrugged.

"Kimiko, Omi, and Raimundo are trapped in an invisible box by Le Mime, and Clay is left to find the Wu by himself, although he does have Dojo to guide him. Clay finds the **Fist of Tabigong **at the same time that Jack Spicer does, and they start a Xiaolin Showdown, which, of course, Clay wins. Raimundo, Kimiko, and Omi got out of the box just in time to get to the Showdown area and watch Clay and Jack. Raimundo had discovered that you could imagine a way out of the box, so Omi imagined a door and they all escaped. After Clay won the Showdown, they all headed home on Dojo, and Clay cracked a joke about everyone hating mimes. Happy?"

We all stared. I can't believe this! She summarized our day pretty much perfectly. It was amazing and scary. She was probably just showing off, but imagine what we could do with her knowledge of the future! We could retrieve all the Shen Gong Wu before they even revealed themselves. She could predict when a Shen Gong Wu would reveal itself, even what Jack Spicer might do if we got in another Xiaolin Showdown! My jaw was on the floor, I'm sure. Melody didn't say anything, but Kimiko did.

"Ahem! Catching flies, Raimundo?" I shut my mouth and glared at her briefly before I turned my attention back to Melody.

"So, obviously you know our future" I said.

"I know what you're thinking. And I don't think it's that simple. I collected videos of series that I watched, and I do have the complete Xiaolin Showdown series, so I would know your future, except for one thing: My existence in this world is bound to have its effects. I watched a little too much TV in my world, not to mention read too many books. I'm a real Sci-Fi fantasy fan, as well. Ever hear of the butterfly effect? Just by changing one thing in the past will change the entire future. Fate sent me here because I can influence your world. She even said that I have to: It's my purpose. She also sent me early in the story, so I'm betting I'll have a bigger impact on it. The visions of others in my world are visions of worlds before a Traveler's impact or how the world would be if the Traveler hadn't visited. Maybe no one knows what will happen when a Traveler is involved. Maybe we're too unpredictable. Either way, I probably won't be able to predict anything, so I'm not gonna be much of a help to you in that way." Melody said.

"So maybe our future won't be the same, but it's gotta be close enough, right? The whole distant future changes because of all the little changes that occur forever after the first change. It's a chain reaction! Over time, you'll notice the changes, and you'll know exactly how the future is different, but that's because you knew our paths beforehand. It won't make a difference to us, because we don't know what's on our paths and we can't turn back on them. It doesn't matter if they're altered because we won't even know; only you will." Kimiko said. I looked at Kimiko, then back at Melody when she spoke again.

"But the change is _me_. Change will always be constant, and nothing I knew before will stay the same as it would have been before I got here. If this was a one-time thing, sure, you could all go back and live somewhat normally again, for you, at least. But I'm gonna be a constant companion here now, which means constant change. We won't know anything about the next minute or hour or day, because the one change turns into a million of them! My existence has disrupted any view of the future anyone might have had."

"You know, I think I get what you're sayin' an' all, but you're makin' it sound as if multiple things are bein' changed at once. It's like you said, changing one thing in the past will change the entire future. That one change is you: the addition of another teammate to our ranks. Because of that, a whole bunch of other small changes are bound to occur, like Kimiko said. This is what would be natural if this kind o' thing happened all the time. There's really nothin' for you to worry about, Mel." Clay told her. My brain is spinning at all this talk of changes and time travel.

"Addition to the team...?" Melody whispered to herself.

It's got me thinking. Maybe Melody feels guilty about suddenly showing up in our lives. Maybe we had a good life before she showed up. Or maybe she felt bad about not being able to help us out. Who can tell?

Master Fong chose that moment to come back to the room with a tray of food. He sat the tray down next to Melody and said to her, "Since we haven't had a chance to eat since your arrival, may we eat with you? And maybe we can properly introduce ourselves, as well."

"Oh, of course! That'd be great. But, I already know you all—"

"Still," Master Fong cut her off. "It wouldn't be very polite if we didn't." Melody smiled. I felt something in me stir when she did that. Weird.

We grabbed our food and began to eat.

"Umm, Melody? Do you need a fork?" Kimiko said.

"No, I can use chopsticks." Melody replied.

Master Fong stood and said, "Let me start the introductions. I am Master Fong and this is Dojo. These are my students." He gestured to us. Clay stood.

"My name is Clay Bailey. Pleased to meet you, ma'am." He said, tipping his hat. Kimiko stood after Clay sat down again.

"My name is Kimiko Tohomiko. Pleased to meet you, Melody." She bowed then sat down. Omi stood up.

"My name is Omi. I am most happy to meet you." Next, it was my turn. I stood up.

"My name is Raimundo Pedrosa. We are the Xiaolin Warriors. Good to meet you, Melody." I said, bowing briefly before I sat down again.

Melody nodded to each of us, and a slow grin spread across her face.

"Hi everyone, my name is Melody. I am pleased to meet your acquaintance. Now let's eat!" she said, good-naturedly. We laughed with her and began to eat.

She didn't even get the food half-way to her mouth.

* * *

**Okay, that's it then! I know I'm mean leaving you right there, but it keeps you interested, doesn't it? Stay tuned for more updates! A someone review me please! I'm DYIN' here!**

**Dadles:** *sigh* So glad I got this out of the way. We have a half-day at school today. unfortunately, it was also exam week. I just got finished with my Digital Multimedia Design exams (there were two! The rotten bastard!) Internet is unrestricted, cos we had to get on it for part of the exam. *sigh* still grounded, too. Parents don't know about me having this site or that I update every week. Thank GOD for school computers! And flashdrives! Hopefully, my exam results will bring up my ONLY bad grade, so I'll be above a C and I'll be ungrounded and out of the shit-hole. (figure of speech. just sayin'...)

News flash: January 11, 2011, my dad died. He committed suicide. So now I'm half orphaned. it's only natural my grades slipped. the thing is, once they start to slip, it's extremely hard to get them back up and keep them that way. so, yeah. Also, I recently broke up with my boyfriend! I've been cravin' the single life for a while, now baby! so much less stress without a boyfriend... phew! eventually, you get tired of someone not being tuned to your thoughts, a mind in the gutter (not that it's bad, just uncomfortable when it's ALL THE TIME). Plus, I found out he was going behind my back! YEAH! The ungrateful bastard. *sigh* It sucks when you get held back. then the only people within dating range are at _least_ a year younger, and thus, more immature than normal. I'm 17, gonna be 18 in December. He was 14. Doesn't really look 14, doesn't sound 14, but he's totally 14. I'd of had to break it off anyway, soon as I turned legal. Not fond of "jail-bait"

**Raimundo:** ...And how does that make you feel?...

**Dadles:** (playfully) I'm gonna kick your ass!

_*Procedes to run around the house throwing shaving cream suds at each other, giggling and laughing like mad*_

**See you next week! Ta!**


	9. Chapter 7

**Yays! I is back! And I gotz another chapter starring Raimundo! And I gotz a surprise for him too.**

**Raimundo:** What is it now...

**Dadles:** Read the damn story and find out.

**Raimundo:** Alright, Bitchy.

**Dadles: *resounding smack***

**Raimundo:** OW!

**Dadles: **Read and Review!

* * *

Chapter 7

Raimundo

Melody's grip on her chopsticks suddenly went slack, her eyes rolled up into her skull, and she slumped and fell backwards onto her pallet.

"Melody!" we all shouted.

A sudden bright light exploded in the room, blinding us. _Oh no…_ I shielded my eyes against the glare, trying to see Melody. When I found her, I realized the light was coming _from_ Melody! It enveloped her body, twisting ribbons of even brighter light all around her. I watched as it lifted her up. Her ballet suit was in tatters. Master Fong had bandaged her wound and gauze was wrapped all the way around Melody's waist. The places where the fabric was ripped were covered up with gauze, too, to cover her skin. The light grew brighter. Slowly, all the bandages being coming undone. Where the light touched the golden heart-shaped locket Melody told us about, the light turned to gold, almost blinding me again.

A burst of freezing wind flipped the tray and threw us against the walls, splattering us with food. It whipped around the pallet and blankets until they had been thrown away from Melody. The wind wrapped its icy tendrils around Melody and lifted her limp body into the air so that she levitated in the center of the room. Through the blue and gold light, I watched her hair change from pale blonde to bright and shining silver. Her hair flew about, twisting like silver snakes.

Melody's eyes were wide open, and the silver-blue light spilled from them into the frenzied, windswept room. The little golden locket pulsed and a giant wave of golden light swept over us, and then… silence. As suddenly as it had begun, it had also ended in the same swoop. It hadn't even lasted five seconds!

We opened our eyes. The wind had abruptly stopped. The blue and silver light had faded, leaving behind a multitude of colorful spots that danced behind my eyelids. We dropped and yelped as we realized just how far up from the ground we were. I rubbed my back and looked around.

Kimiko and Clay had fallen relatively close to each other and were just standing up. I think Kimiko may have landed on Clay, because she helped him up muttering 'Sorry, sorry'. Omi was stumbling around, trying to get a vase off his head. I heard Dojo's muffled voice inside it, so I went and helped Omi tug the vase off. It came off with a pop and Omi gasped for breath while Dojo crawled out, wheezing. Master Fong was brushing rice off his robe. He looked sideways towards the middle of the room. I followed his gaze.

Melody was surrounded in a blue force field that kept her levitated above the floor. The wind that had tossed us like rag dolls now seemed to keep her in place within her sphere of glowing light. Her body was limp, her head flung lightly back. Her hair was floating around her head in a silver halo; the wind was dying down. Her body was slightly arched; it looked like someone was pulling her up by her heart. The little golden locket that had sent the golden wave and banished the wind was floating, dancing above Melody's chest. She jerked. Her eyes slowly drifted shut.

And then the force field pulsed. As we watched, the transparent layers clouded up, shaking and shivering, and then it started to solidify. Starting from the bottom working at a slow pace upwards, a solid barrier formed and took over the force field. The inside of the barrier was still glowing and before long, all we could see of Melody was a fuzzy outline against the blue. Again, as abruptly as it had began, it ended. I think from the moment Melody's grip on the chopsticks went slack to about right now it has been about 2 minutes. We could no longer hear the hissing of the wind or see the glowing light that had previously filled the room. The thing floating in the middle of the room gently set itself down on the floor again without another sound or speck of light.

I stood speechless. I mean, what am I supposed to say at this point? An irritated part of me stirred. It shouted in my head, "Come on, did she have to do it just _before_ we ate? We were _so close!"_ I could feel my stomach rumble, and I was about to say something, but Master Fong put his hand on my shoulder.

"Raimundo, calm yourself," he said gently. "This is serious. Fate isn't done with Melody yet. She is going through a metamorphosis within that egg."

"Egg?" Kimiko had stepped closer to us and was now tentatively peering at the thing in the center of the room.

"Yes, Kimiko, an egg." Master Fong said. I took a closer look. Now that he mentioned it, it _did_ kinda look like an egg. It was massive, a _lot_ bigger than any normal birds' egg. The barrier must be the shell, then. The shell is a pure and clean color blue, like the early morning sky. It reminds me of a robins' egg, only without the speckles. The entire thing was almost twice as tall as me, and certainly almost as wide as Clay was tall.

Kimiko walked closer and laid her hand on the surface of the egg. At her touch, the shell's surface erupted into a series of red swirls, cutting across the calm blue with flaming red. Kimiko gasped and yanked her hand away.

Immediately, the swirling patterns disappeared, returning the color back to calm blue. Kimiko looked at us with wide eyes.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" she breathed. With extreme care, she placed her hand upon the egg once more.

Once again, it exploded with bright, vibrant color. All shades and hues of reds and oranges ricocheted across and up and down and everywhere at once on the shell. Fireworks exploded and died down, rivulets of flame trailing down the side of the egg. A low fire burned across the skyline and the rising sun appeared. Hibiscus flowers bloomed and little bees floated to and from each blossom as tiny flecks of yellow crept through and eventually wiped everything clean away. Shades of yellow darkened and changed color. The sunset brought on a rich, dark red stain that spread over the egg, covering its entire surface. The swirls slowed and pulsed like a heartbeat. A low hum vibrated the surface of the egg and a myriad of colors rippled out across red water again and again until they slowly faded and Kimiko's hand retreated from the shell. The ripples continued even after her fingers had pulled away, the colors fading ever so slightly from red to purple and then back to blue.

"That is so cool," Kimiko whispered. "So very, very cool. I could feel Melody inside it, but like I was touching the surface of her heart. You've gotta touch it!"

We looked to Master Fong, who nodded. Clay stepped up to the egg. By now, the ripples had ceased. The cool, calm blue had returned, but etched into it, the patterns of red were frozen in mid-swirl. They stood out against the blue in stark contrast, the image burning itself into my eyes. Hesitantly, Clay brushed his own fingers upon the surface of the egg.

The second his skin came into contact with the shell, the blazing red disappeared and quick and lively swirls of green spread out from where his fingertips lay. Each swirl turned into a thin, delicate vine, and from each vine, tiny leaves sprouted along the edge, and pale little flowers bloomed and spread wide. The vines snaked around the surface, sprouting and blooming, until soon, the entire egg was covered in greenery. All shades of green decorated the surface, and a soft sigh rippled across, making the flowers move and the grass sway in a gentle breeze. Trees grew, pushing up from the earth and spreading their branches wide into the sky. Their leaves glowed in the dappled sunlight. The figure of a deer walked in the meadow, bending its neck to nibble on the grass. It was so life-like, so amazing! Nature at its most beautiful played across the surface of the egg as if it were a movie screen. Everything was so green, so healthy-looking! It so clearly represented Clay's element Earth. It breathed life, it made you feel good just to look at it. Clay pulled his hand away and the vision faded. Now, flecks of green were carved into the surface of the egg, as if little leaves that were swirling in the wind were suddenly frozen into the picture.

Omi stepped forward next and placed his palm against the egg.

Waves crashed on a shoreline. Water swirled and sprayed, silver caps shining. Fish swam below the surface of the water. We were plunged deep into the sea. Whales sang together, their low voices rising in harmony as they swam slowly past. Dolphins careened and twisted about in the ocean, flipping high out of the water, tasting the sky and plunging back into the blue waters. The sea was alive with clicks and giggles, and the sound ricocheted into the room we were in as well. A whole array of sea life opened up to us! Slowly, more colors were added to the picture, as if the egg was learning more of what it was capable of doing. Green seaweed swayed in the ocean currents, concealing hidden caverns and providing shelter for small fish. Colorful coral reefs were built up in fast forward before our very eyes, and petite seahorses flitted in and out of the incredible structures, sometimes clinging to the seaweed as the ocean surged around them. Tiny bubbles floated up, and suddenly we weren't in the warm ocean anymore. The bubbles reached the top of the egg, then slimmed and sharpened, fixing themselves to a crystal ceiling in an icy cavern. Silver lights seemed to glitter everywhere, making it hard to see. The little pinpoints of light blinked and grew brighter, then eventually faded away into a soft mist.

Omi brought his hand away from the egg. The picture faded. Now, imprinted onto the surface of the egg, different shades of blue and silver co-mingled with the red swirls and green patterns. Shapes of fish and silver bubbles floated around, frozen like everything else. Everything twinkled, and the background colors were starting to shift. It was my turn, now. My hand shook a little as I rested my palm on the egg.

A warm feeling spread throughout my body, and the entire surface of the egg lit up in pure gold. Heat flooded my fingertips and a pure, ecstatic joy raced through my heart! The egg's surface exploded with emotional colors, wild excited feelings bouncing around with frantic bursts of light! Pictures started to form from the colors and shapes. A golden heart shining against an expanse of a brilliant blue sky. It faded into background, but it wasn't entirely gone. In my mind's eye, the silhouette of a white bird flew up through the clouds and soared high above them, turning loop-the-loops and spinning in joyful dance. It zipped around and dive-bombed through the cloud bank with startling speed. I could feel the exhilaration when the bird dove low to the ground then pulled up and rode a thermal, pulling out and flying through the trees and skimming the tops of them. The wind tingled and lifted my hair. Then the bird gently floated down and disappeared through the leaves, and a girl jumped back up into the sky. She had beautiful white wings that were bigger than she was, and they had soft downy feathers. I could feel the rush of the wind in my face as she climbed higher and higher, touching the clouds in the sky, brushing her fingers through them. I could feel her power, her strength, and I felt her certainty and confidence. And I was filled with a sense of knowledge, like in a dream, and I knew she was capable of incredible things. She bent the wind to her will and made it lift her wings to higher heights. She towered above everything else in the world. The world was insignificant compared to her, but I knew she still loved it, and cared for it. The clouds swirled around her, twisting and reshaping themselves to her will. Swans appeared, and doves. Trains chugged through the sky on invisible tracks. Castles rose up, surrounded with boats and crocodiles. A small glade was made, and it was filled with fantastical creatures, dragons, centaurs, and a Pegasus. They all formed before her, eager to please her and make her happy, just as she was to the people of the world. A great longing rose in my heart, and the golden heart pulsed to the beat of mine. The girl, the angel, folded her wings and dropped at dizzying speeds, falling lower and lower, until she reached the treetops and once again disappeared into them. And a little white bird fluttered to the ground, where the silhouette of a boy was sitting with his back resting against a tree. She perched herself on the boy's knee. He lifted his hand and petted the beautiful white bird, stroking her feathers with gentle fingers. The bird opened its beak in joyful song, chirruping and twittering and singing so sweetly for the boy. I felt the bird's happiness and contentment, as well as the boy's. I could feel the bird's soft feathers under my own fingertips, and I felt her heart pulsing gently in time with mine. I looked at the boy, and the golden heart sat nestled in his chest. _PureHeart…_ From the gold heart, the gold light grew again, blossoming around the boy and bird, enveloping them and washing away everything else around them. All I could see was the bird and the boy surrounded in gold light, frozen forever in their warm, perfect embrace. _My PureHeart…_ A soft voice whispered to me from within my head.

I felt a slight pressure under my hand and I got the feeling that the show was over. I lifted my hand.

Silver clouds had made their way into the blue expanse. The picture moved now, the blue always shifting and twisting in on itself, like an ocean, mixing in with a thousand other shades and hues. Silver was meshed in there, too, making the egg give off a kind of shimmer. Stars sparkled in the sky. The red swirls and patterns were in constant motion as well. They wove in and around, flicking about like flames. The little green leaves that were frozen in the wind before now blew about in graceful waves, twisting and curling and fluttering all over the place in their own perfect dance. Strands of seaweed swayed in a slow waltz, and small, colorful fish swam in the ocean/sky, mingling with the silver streaks and clouds. And the clouds that had made their way into the picture were always moving and shifting, turning into swans and doves, or trains and castles, and a myriad of other things.

"That was amazing," I breathed. "Did you all feel things, too?" They nodded.

"I felt peaceful and calm." Clay said. He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair, then put his hat back on. Kimiko was staring at her hands.

"I felt the heat of fire, resting in my hands. I felt amazing and powerful, like I could do anything in the world!" she said.

"Mine was full of color. I felt at peace, but in constant motion. I could feel the ebb and flow of the tide and the power of the sea."

"I don't get Rai's, though," Kimiko said. "I think we were all represented in our elements. But Raimundo didn't exactly get that. It was mostly about a girl. Or an angel, I guess." Kimiko said.

"You are right, Kimiko. She showed you all representations of your elements. Kimiko, Dragon of Fire, Clay, Dragon of Earth, Omi, Dragon of Water, and Raimundo, Dragon of the Wind. Just touching the surface of the egg revealed to you things about yourselves. For you first three, she showed you something you already knew, what is the biggest part of you. But for Raimundo," Master Fong touched my head. "For Raimundo, she showed something very different. Something special about Raimundo that is a bigger part of him than his role as Dragon of the Wind. We won't know the meaning of it until Melody chooses to tell us, if she knows, or until Fate decides to show us, if she means to. She also showed you some of the things in your hearts. By taking part in this, you have each bared your souls to Melody and left an imprint on her heart. I believe that this is the beginning of Melody's transformation; knowing what is important about each of you and the goodness that lies in your hearts."

We started to pick up the room. As we cleaned, I thought about what Master Fong said. _What did he mean by that? I know that Melody is inside that thing but I don't think she's the one who showed us all those things._ Master Fong's words played over again in my mind. _'I believe that this is the beginning of Melody's transformation; knowing what is important about each of you and the goodness that lies in your hearts.' What's in our hearts… No, if that were true, wouldn't it have showed some sign of a heart when the others touched it? The golden heart was only on mine._ Then I remembered the voice I heard.

"Hey, did you guys hear any voices when you took your turns?"

"Nope."

"No."

"Huh-uh, why?" Kimiko asked.

"No reason," I answered. I went back to cleaning. Food was stuck to the walls and floor. _We're gonna have to mop, _I thought glumly. I picked up the blankets that got thrown around and shook off the rice. Kimiko helped me fold it. _'PureHeart', I heard her say. I heard Melody's voice call me PureHeart. 'My PureHeart,' she said. What does that mean? That I'm pure-hearted? I don't think so! But the boy in the picture had a glowing, gold heart. The whole egg turned gold when I touched it and a gold heart appeared. And that gold heart pulsed in time with my own. Is that what she meant? That I have a heart of gold? But wait, then that would mean that _**I**_ was the boy in the picture, and _**she**_ was the bird or angel or whatever! Does that mean she's in love with me?_ I almost snorted. Yeah, right, Raimundo! Quit daydreaming! Getting all flustered over some confusing vision… now you're thinking some girl you don't even know _loves_ you!

We finished cleaning up. Since Master Fong had given us the day off, we were free to do whatever we wanted. I decided to stay with Melody and think.

"You comin', Rai?" Kimiko asked. I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm gonna stay here."

"Whatever. 'S your choice, I guess." She left the room. I was all alone.

I stayed in the room for a few hours, thinking. Or I should say daydreaming. I think I might have napped, I don't really know, but the time flew by and it was getting dark out. I was just thinking about going and doing something else when the egg shuddered. I started, then relaxed and reached over to touch the egg. This time, though, the egg didn't change colors or anything like that. No, something strange happened. Instead, I felt electricity tingling up my legs, through my body, and up to my head. Then I went through a sensation making me feel as if I was being sucked out of my body and away. Next thing I know, I'm sitting in a meadow.

The ground was covered with beautiful, long, green grass; slight blades that swayed in the gentle wind. Slender stalks of wild flowers stuck out of the ground in random order. The meadow was enclosed by immense trees, their leaves reaching both up and down and to the sides to create a natural barrier. It was a lot like the meadow from Clay's turn at the egg. In the center of the meadow, there was an egg just like Melody's, except it was sparkly-blue and it was glowing. I could see the silhouette of someone semi-curled inside it. The silhouette is brighter than the rest of the egg, though, so the person inside must be glowing. I stood and walked up to the egg. I was thinking about touching it when I noticed I wasn't alone in the meadow. I started and jumped back.

A man and a woman clad in white stood on either side of the egg. The woman's hair was jet black, yet it had its own golden sort of glow. Her clothes were form-fitting and sleek, but they made her look regal and seemed sort of proper on her. The man was beautiful, too. I'm not gay, or anything like that, but I gotta say he's handsome. The man's hair was a definite contrast to the woman's: it was a bright, honey-gold and it shone even in the dim light. The man wore a pair of loose, white slacks and a white, unbuttoned shirt that only half covered his tanned chest. Amazingly enough, a pair of white feathered wings came out of his back and seemed to fold his body into a protective embrace; he held them aloft and they formed a shield around him. Floating above his head, a golden halo with white stars spun slowly and twinkled with light. The beautiful pair guarded the egg together.

"Hello, Raimundo," a woman's voice echoed in the meadow. I looked around for whoever said it. I didn't see either one of the beautiful pair speak and the voice had echoed from everywhere at once, making it impossible to pinpoint the direction it came from.

"There's no need to be startled; we won't hurt you." The voice said again. I turned around and looked at the woman standing next to the egg. She smiled.

"What's going on here? Where am I?" My thoughts came out as actual words, floating above my head and echoing throughout the meadow. "Whoa! I can hear my thoughts!" I thought/said. The woman's laugh echoed in the air.

"Yes, you certainly can! That is how we communicate here. We speak through our thoughts." She thought/said.

"Why can't we just talk like normal?" I asked/thought.

"Have you tried? You'll find that you can't. That is how this place was made. Even we cannot go against the structures of its making."

"And who are you two, exactly?" The woman gestured to herself.

"I am Fate," she said. She gestured to the man beside her. "This is my companion, Opportunity. I believe Melody has already told you about us? We are here to tell you a little bit more about Melody and her mission."

The woman named Fate reached her hand out to me. I took it hesitantly. I was immediately plunged into cold, dark water.

Gasping, I tried to push myself up to the surface, only to find that I wasn't in water at all. Random shapes and colors floated all around me. I floated along with them, watching them mesh together and pull apart, trying to figure out where I was.

"This is Melody's sub-conscience, Raimundo," Fate said. "Right now, she is dreaming aimlessly. Only when you put a sort of subject in her mind will she begin to do wonderful things. We've brought you here to show you exactly what you mean to Melody in regards to what she has shown you recently. You are her PureHeart." There's that word again!

"What is a PureHeart?" I asked.

"A PureHeart is someone very special to a Traveler. They have the right amount of goodness in their heart, and the right kind as well. PureHearts provide comfort and security for Travelers. A Traveler will gravitate to a PureHeart and bind themselves to them, able to sense their emotions and needs. Travelers will dedicate their lives to making their PureHearts happy. In her lifetime, Melody will always be bound to her PureHeart. In every world that she visits, she will always have a purpose. In this one, she is to live her life, help to defeat a great and terrible evil, and learn about herself and what she is capable of. There are no limits for her in this world. Endless energy, endless power, she is capable of incredible things!

"Not all worlds have PureHearts, though. They're considered rare. Melody will be able to sense them and she'll gravitate towards them, like all Travelers, and unwittingly bind herself to them. You are someone with a good, pure heart. You have the right balance between the good and evil in your soul and that is one of the things that makes you a PureHeart. Melody will always need you and you will invariably need her as well!

"Travelers don't have entirely pure hearts. They live on the brink of insanity, and in some worlds, they are forced to go against their very morals and ideals. Melody may be a force for good in this world, but there are times when she must become a formidable, terrifying, and bloodthirsty evil villain. She will do terrible things that she will come to regret later on when she is in her right mind. Her personality will be constantly altered, her morals constantly changing, nothing ever staying the same! And she will always be alone. She will have no one to share her entire life with, because though she may fall in love and grow up and have families, she can't take them with her. She has to start all over, try and forget her past loves and heartaches so she can move on with her life. PureHearts ease that pain. You must promise me that, no matter what, you'll stay by her as long as you can and help her stay on her path."

I thought about it. According to Fate, Melody does love me, in a sense. She needs me, but does she even know me that well?

I make up mind anyway. "I promise. I promise I'll watch over her and protect her as needed. I'm a Warrior; it's what I do. But I'm not even sure of my own path, so how can I keep Melody on her's?" I asked. Suddenly, the world around me shifted. All the colors and shapes disappeared and I was plunged into a darkness even deeper. My feet found solid ground and only the place where I stood was lit. I looked around.

In the dark expanse before me, I could just barely make out a latticework of small paths. They twisted and doubled back and swerved and broke off into so many more paths that it got all tangled together, it was dizzying. I couldn't keep track of any one single path and my eyes kept skipping around and missing what I was trying to see. It was like trying to remember someone I had never met. I looked behind me.

My entire life before this moment was laid out behind me. I could see all the way back to the day I was born, and even a little before that. My path had a lot of twists and turns, and it got tangled a lot, too. All the people I had met so far in my life, every decision I had ever made, everything I ever did, my path was lit up in full color and light. And with every person I met and with every decision I made, a million other paths had been opened and closed, and now they lay dark and unused, untraveled. I'll never know where those roads would've led. There are other paths connected to mine that are faintly lit. Those roads belong to the people I know or knew. I could see that some of the paths, like my family's, were closely entwined with my own.

In a flash, I realized that the entire world was a latticework of roads, weaving all around everyone else. We are all tied to one time line, connected to different people, and those people are connected to other people, and depending on how far you go with the connections, you'll find that you are indirectly connected to almost everyone in the world! Therefore, if we're all connected, then we all affect each other, whether the connections are indirect or not. I couldn't see quite that far, but it's a good theory. The enormity of all this information left me stunned. I was looking at a version of the butterfly effect!

I looked with new eyes down at the spot where I was standing. I saw that the path was bigger than some of my other ones. The images of Clay, Kimiko, and Omi, as well as Master Fong and Dojo, even Jack Spicer and Wuya appeared before me. All of us were connected, our paths, our futures, they all twisted around each other and I realized that we needed and supported each other to advance in our lives. Even Jack and Wuya helped us all out. Their evil charades gave us new purpose, gave us excitement, and gave us a reason to complete our missions with vigor. I think without them we'd be sort of lost, or the very least very bored.

The images disappeared, and a bright light from above shone down upon me. I squinted, looking up, and saw a pretty girl floating down. She landed lightly beside me. Her hair was silver-white and had pale, gold streaks mixed in. She was sort of faintly glowing and she tried a slow, shy smile at me.

"M-Melody? Is that you?" I stammered. Her smile grew wider and she nodded her head. All of her bandages were gone now, and her skin was clear of the scratches and bruises it had held before. Instead of the tatter ballet suit that she had worn, she was wearing a simple, white mini-sundress. She had a pair of wings exactly like Opportunity's, only smaller. She was bare-footed and wore a single chain of white feathers and pearls on each wrist and ankle. I looked into her blue eyes, and they stole my breath away. Is this what it means to fall in love at first sight?

Melody took my hand in hers. My pathway lit up with dazzling light. Suddenly, there weren't any tangles or twists in the path ahead of me. Instead, I had a straight line that bypassed everything else and lay full of light. Melody gently pulled me forward so that we were walking hand in hand. We were walking on Melody's path, now, I could see that. My road ran into hers and meshed together with it. All of the roads that were entwined together before were now separated as colored threads on Melody's white road. Now we were all separate, but together all the same, connected, our fates intertwined as never before by the power of this one person.

Her past was clear as day to me. I could see it as if it were my own. I saw her when she was finally brought into her own world. I could see how much her parents loved her. I felt the grief she felt at only two years old, and I shared her pain as that grief doubled with her mother's death. I was a witness to every injustice done to her. I marveled at her talents and her way of thinking. I was there sharing her happiness and joy and I was there to help shoulder all of the sorrow and crushing grief. I was lifted up with her hope and her strength, and I lifted her up with my own. I shared Melody's past life, and Melody suddenly stopped walking and threw her arms around my neck. She buried her face into my shoulder and let her memories flow into me. Brooke's cruel words, the anger and darkness that had bubbled up inside, her frustration, her near-death experience in the alley and seeing Opportunity as an angel. Her murder…

I let Melody cry. I held her to me as heart wrenching sobs shook her and sent waves of pity and sadness sweeping through me. She cried while I watched her memories and well after I was done. I could almost feel the ache in her soul. After a while, the tears stopped and she was silent. I waited.

"Raimundo, when I'm reborn, I won't remember any of this. I've shared my past life with you and that's what matters most, because now we're bound together. I know you're my PureHeart, and I'm glad it's you, but after I'm born again, it'll take a long time for me to remember all of this. You promised Fate to take care of me. Now you have to wait for me. Please don't try to remind me of anything, just wait for me, okay?" Melody took my face in her hands and her stunning blue eyes gazed into mine while she said this.

"Okay. I'll wait for you." I said softly. She leaned in close again and kissed me on the lips, and then I was jolted back into reality.

Melody wasn't in front of me anymore. I was back in the room with the egg. I'm not even sure anymore if all that really happened. It already feels like a distant dream.

As I came to my senses, however, the last few moments of that 'distant dream' replayed in my head, and I blushed so badly my face probably matched my red tunic; I wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there for a year! I feel like such a nutcase! All the nonsense about 'love at first sight' and 'PureHearts', what am I thinking? I hardly even know her and I _**kissed**_ her! _But that's not entirely true. I went through her life with her and we shared an emotional bond. _She_ kissed _me_. I feel as if I've known her my whole life, and kissing her just felt right._

I was forced to stop dwelling in my thoughts when Kimiko walked in the room, startling me.

"How goes it?" she asked. I was about to tell her about the whole 'Roads of Fate' theory and my dream when I was sucker-punched in the gut with a wave of nausea and the strong feeling of DO NOT TELL attacked my forehead, like someone was pinching it with a pair of giant tweezers.

"Oh, er, well, nothing's happened so I guess it's good. I relaxed, caught a few z's, you know, the usual." I lied.

"Yeah, same here. We missed you out there. Master Fong and Dojo cooked up some more food so we're gonna go eat. You comin'?" I nodded my head in agreement and followed Kimiko out of the room without a second glance at the egg. A slight twinge of loneliness and disappointment knotted up in my stomach. _'A Traveler and a PureHeart can sense each others' emotions…'_ I remembered. Boy, that's gonna be a little awkward when she's 'reborn'. I wonder if she'll have wings…

* * *

**Aww, yay! A love interest! Heads up: Things are about to get _pretty_ interesting for Raimundo and Melody. And it involves a certain red-head villain...**

**Raimundo:** A love interest? You got all bitchy for a LOVE INTEREST?

**Dadles:** *another resounding smack* I did not get "bitchy" as you say. It's just common sense! If you want to find out what I was talking about, all you had to do was **read the story**.

**Raimundo:** *rubs back of head* Ow. You hit hard. And what do you mean about the "certain red-headed villain..." and things getting interesting? Dadles? Dadles? Aww come on, don't leave me hanging!

**Dadles:** See you all next week! And stop bugging me, Rai, I have to get back to work! School doesn't stop just so I can update!


	10. Chapter 8

**Ack! Sorry I'm late! I was expecting to be able to go to the computer lab on Friday and didn't. So I'm updating today, Monday. One of my reviewers says that I put too much stuff before and after the chapters, so I've decided I won't do that unless I really feel like it, and today I really don't. So sit back and enjoy!**

**(I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of it's characters or locations/trademarks/mystic objects. The story is mine, but intertwines with the original, which I do not own.)**

* * *

Chapter 8

Jack Spicer

"Jack! You failed again! WHY do you even BOTHER calling yourself a villain?"

"Nag, nag, nag, that's all you ever do! I can't even _IMAGINE_ how YOU were an evil villain _at all_!"

"I'll have you know I was the greatest evil of all time in my day! I was feared by all, and I destroyed a great many!"

"Whatever. Obviously, you lost your touch if you're just floating around here as a ghostly disembodied head!"

Wuya and I bickered back and forth for a time. I can't believe that Xiaolin Loser beat me! And what's worse is he didn't even DO anything! Argh! Now Wuya hasn't shut up since we got home. She's always going on about how stupid and insignificant I am. If it wasn't for her ability to sense Shen-Gong-Wu, I would've kicked her out long ago. Of course, she hasn't been here that long. The truth of that matter is I'm not used to having someone around.

My name is Jack Spicer: Evil Boy Genius! Recently, I received a gift from my parents, who are on an archeological dig somewhere far away. I can't remember where. Anyway, it was an ancient wooden puzzle box. At first, I thought it was a cruddy gift. I opened it and there was this funky mask sitting there. Yep, a really cruddy gift. I had turned my back on it and continued working on my robots and when I looked again, the mask was floating and it had purple tendrils snaking out of it. I don't suppose I scare easy, but I was really freaked! That's how Wuya and I met. She's a ghost. Supposedly, when she was alive, she was this great evil witch. So she became my evil partner in crime. Or more like I became her new crony. As a ghost, she can't interact with anything solid. She can't do whatever it is that she wanted to do. So she's instructed me to do it for her. Supposedly, in order to rule the world, as is my ultimate dream, I must collect all of the Shen-Gong-Wu.

I want to rule the whole world! All of it! Not some of it! Not just Iceland or Fiji! I want to rule the whole world! And if collecting Shen-Gong-Wu for an evil Heylin witch-ghost is how I'll do it, then I will do it!

She had explained that Shen-Gong-Wu, known as Wu for short, are mystical and magical artifacts capable of amazing feats. But they're hidden all over the planet and impossible to find until they reveal themselves. I remember the first Shen-Gong-Wu being the Mantis Flip Coin. And of course, with the revealing of the Mantis Flip Coin, I met four dweebs and a puny lizard-looking dragon named Dojo, who were also in search of the Shen-Gong-Wu.

They are the force for good, and they really get on my nerves. I really like messing with the little bald-headed freak they call Omi. He doesn't get slang, though, so that's really frustrating. Wuya calls them the Xiaolin Warriors. Now I have to compete with them to get the Wu. I suppose I was lucky that I found a magical mime in Paris, even if he _was_ super irritating. I used him to distract those Xiaolin dweebs when the Fist of Tabigong revealed itself. Speaking of mimes, that reminds me…

"Note to self: Destroy all mimes." I wrote down on a sticky note. I stuck the note on the wall behind my computer monitor. I had that wall dedicated to my notes of things to do when I rule the world. I turned around. Wuya was still muttering to herself.

I started my work of repairing some of my broken JackBots. Why do those jerks always have to dismember them? It would make my work a whole lot easier if they would just disappear. Or at the very least, let my JackBots destroy them. Honestly, I hate those guys!

Wuya screamed. I jumped with a start and stared at Wuya.

"Don't _**DO**_ that! You startled me!" I shouted. Her purple mass was writhing around and a golden light glowed from her eyes, like she was sensing the revealing of another Shen-Gong-Wu. She screamed and wailed until the gold light was extinguished, then floated around in circles, shivering and hyperventilating.

"What's wrong with you, now?" I asked crossly.

"Something has happened. Something terrible! I would know that feeling anywhere only this is twice as painful! Oh what'll we do, what'll we do?" Wuya babbled.

"Wuya, what's going on?" I asked. Suddenly she was an inch away from my face, forcing me to lean back.

"Grand Master Dashi is back! Do you have any idea what this means? Of course you don't! _HE'S_ the one who made me like this in the first place! And HE'S the one who created the Shen-Gong-Wu! What I just felt was the exact same feeling I had when I first sensed him!" Wuya screamed.

"But isn't he, like, you know, dead? If he came back, he would be a ghost. It must be someone else. Maybe someone related to him?"

"You fool! Dashi never had family! If he did, I would have found them and destroyed them!"

"Calm down! Don't the legends say that it was rumored he came from a different world? He just appeared out of nowhere one day and decided to fight you."

"Yes, those rumors are true. Dashi was sent from a different world, he told me so himself, arrogant little—"

"Well maybe he had family in that other world or whatever. If he was sent when you were alive before, maybe one of his descendants has been sent to combat you now. If that's true, then don't you think we should try and find him? If we capture whoever was sent, we can stop him before anything happens. Better yet, if we can control him, we can use him against those Xiaolin Losers." I suggested. Wuya looked at me in surprise.

"Jack, as ridiculous as you are, that is probably the most brilliant idea that you will ever come up with."

"Thank y— wait a minute! I'm sure I'll come up with a ton of other brilliant ideas in the future! You can't just peg me like that!"

"Sure I can. I'm older than you and I know what I'm doing." Wuya retorted.

"But- but- That's not fair! That's not even right! Besides, you're dead, so age doesn't count."

"Oh, stop your whining and let's go already. If I had to guess, Dashi's descendant will be at the Xiaolin Temple."

"Xiaolin Temple it is. Maybe I can steal back the Wu while we're there." I said as I gathered my things. Should we take the jet or the car? Or maybe I can just hover-pack over there…?

"Hurry up, jack!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'…" Jeeze.

I climbed into my jet and strapped myself in. Wuya floated alongside me in the cabin. We took off and headed towards the Xiaolin Temple.

When we landed, we were just inside the wall. I looked at Wuya. She was looking kinda twitchy. She saw me looking.

"I can sense it. A change is taking place. He is vulnerable. If we strike now, we'll succeed for sure." She said.

"If you say so." I climbed out and maneuvered around the temple grounds. I started to head towards the vault, but Wuya stopped me.

"He's not in there! He's in the main house. You can go back for the Wu later. This is more important." She whispered fiercely. I nodded my head and crept closer to the main house.

Creeping through the halls, I let Wuya lead the way. We quickly passed the room where those Xiaolin Losers were eating their dinner. I stopped once we were around the corner. I could still hear them talking. I motioned for Wuya to stop so I could listen. She gave me an exasperated look, but she stopped. I listened closely.

Kimiko: What's gonna happen now?

Master Fong: We wait.

Raimundo: But for how long?

Master Fong: Until the egg hatches. I don't know when that will be, only that when it's ready, it will.

Dojo: Dashi went through almost the exact same thing. It only lasted through the night and part of the next day. He was injured too. When he came to, he said that most times, a Traveler will enter a world at the mercy of others and most likely injured and in pain. They´re quick healers, though and make speedy recoveries.

Omi: But what will we do when she wakes up? She'll need training.

Clay: Maybe she's already had training of some sort. She _did_ say she took self-defense.

Kimiko: Yeah, but I bet it was just a RAD class or two. They might have those where she's from. You never know. Her world might be a lot worse than this.

Raimundo: Uh, what's a RAD class?

Master Fong: Rape Aggression Defense. I've heard of that before. It's a very useful class that women can take. It teaches them what to do when attacked and how to handle it.

Clay: Either way, at least she's had some training. It'll give us something to build on if she needs more.

Raimundo: You're forgetting something. She never said she would fight. Maybe her father did, but who's to say she will? Just because she was sent to help doesn't mean she'll actually fight. If she has magical powers, she may just use them to help us…

Kimiko: I'm sure she's gonna be fighting, Raimundo.

I motioned for Wuya to move again. So this descendant is a girl then. And they said 'her father', so she's obviously his daughter. I didn't expect that. I had never thought of there being other worlds, and when I did, I assumed that the time and pacing was the same. It never occurred to me that we'd have to deal with Dashi's daughter! And what was that about an egg?

I soon saw exactly what they were talking about when Wuya led me into a nearby room. In the middle of it stood a giant egg, the biggest egg I'd ever seen! It was covered in swirling designs and multiple colors that consisted of clouds and fish, leaves and flames, along with several hues of silvers and blues. Every inch of the egg was in motion!

My heart thumped in my chest. I felt something strange here, like something was off. There was a sort of invisible pressure in the room that pressed against my skin as I approached the egg.

"Hey! Get away from there!"

I jumped and spun around to face whoever shouted. All four of the dweebs were standing behind me in the doorway, as well as their master. I felt the pressure intensify.

"Ha ha ha! And what makes you think we'll actually listen to you?" Wuya cackled evilly. "Besides, you can't stop me anyway!"

"Guess what, dweeb-heads. We're takin' THIS with us!" I shouted, sweeping my hand toward the egg. They all started for me but the old geezer held them back.

"Wait," he said. "Don't approach them. Something is wrong in this room. Can you feel it?"

"Hmm, I wonder…" Wuya muttered, apparently not listening. She was floating above the egg. Then I watched her plunge into it.

Immediately, the pressure intensified to such a degree that my ears popped. Then an ear-splitting scream shattered the air and an intense light enveloped the room. Raimundo screamed, "NO!" and the Xiaolin Warriors' faces were all struck with horror. I turned to see what was happening. I gave a shriek of my own when I saw what lay before me.

* * *

Raimundo

My heart lurched in my chest. The egg seemed to explode when Melody screamed, but it still held together. It was as if it blew up in slow motion and freeze-framed so that everything was frozen in the middle of the explosion, leaving the pieces suspended five feet from their original positions. Every individual shell piece had a white, gooey-looking, tendril-like arm attached the back of it. A clear, watery membrane surrounded Melody, with the egg pieces floating on the surface of it, for the entire egg had expanded outward when it shattered, as if an explosion had occurred from within. The sight of Melody now was horrifying. She was writhing in agony again, but she couldn't move around as freely, for all the tendril-like arms attached to the backs of the egg pieces were tightly wrapped around various parts of her body, keeping her suspended in the center. I think some of them were actually _attached_ to her!

Looking at the tendrils connecting her to the egg shells, I noticed that her clothing had been dissolved, leaving a thin filmy fog around where it had been. Milky wads of tissues floated around within the membrane and some were connected haphazardly between Melody and the membrane and egg shells. Blood mingled around with everything else, as it was steadily dribbling from Melody's wound.

Melody's screams were muffled through the membrane, but we could still hear them, loud and clear. Her eyes were wide open again, spilling light as well as tears and blood. Wuya, I saw, was stuck and suspended in the egg with Melody. As we all watched, stricken, white wads of tissue shot out of Melody's skin and latched firmly onto Wuya. A dark mass was forming at the center of Melody's chest, where her heart was supposed to be.

The dark mass was an ugly thing, bubbling up out of Melody. I couldn't tell if it was black, purple, or red, but I could tell that it was evil and dangerous. It sprouted black tentacles that snaked around with purposeful menace. They struck Wuya and latched a hold of her essence while she struggled. It was apparent that she wasn't going to escape.

Melody's screams made the membrane tremble violently and the egg shells shake along with it. The sound rose in pitch.

The dark mass was growing bigger, slowly pulling Wuya towards its center. Blood was dripping out of Melody more thickly now. Her eyes turned red as blood streamed out from them, making her scream even louder. The sound alone was seriously threatening to shatter the thin membrane that protected her. As it was, it rippled and wavered violently, pitching the egg shells around dangerously. The dark mass started to creep over Melody's body, tendrils cutting her and making her bleed wherever they touched, and it fed off the blood. The snaking tendrils were wrapping around Melody to bind and constrict her. Already, they were curled around her arms and legs and beginning to slice her throat. Wuya struggled even harder the closer she got to the core of the dark mass. The expression on her face was so terrified, I almost felt bad for her. But I was more concerned for Melody's sake. As it was, Melody's body convulsed uncontrollably

_Remember your promise._ Fate's voice resonated in my head. I wrenched myself out of Master Fong's grasp and ran past Jack, knocking him to the ground in the process.

"Raimundo, no! Stay away from her! She'll suck you in!" Master Fong shouted. I ignored him and did what my gut told me to do. _I am her PureHeart, I have to protect her, _I thought unconsciously. I stopped just in front of the egg's membrane and thrust both of my hands forward, slapping them to the rubbery surface and, pushing against it, I willed my strength and power into it. I heard the others gasp behind me. I didn't bother to look because I was too focused on trying to save Melody. I knew something terrible would happen if Wuya was absorbed by that mass of darkness. I can't let that happen. I felt my hands heat up. Gold sparks of light were firing out of my hands and into the egg. They formed thick streams, and the strong ribbons of power started to flow faster. I watched them shoot straight at the dark mass and at its core. I beat away the evil cords binding Melody and sealed her wounds in glowing light.

The dark mass started retreating into Melody. The golden light I threw at it continued to beat away and slice through it, but it only made it retreat faster. The black tentacles that held Wuya began loosening its grip, but they continued to haul Wuya in towards its center. Whatever evil this is, it's determined to swallow up Wuya. My golden light struck again and again at the pair, until finally, it sliced off a tiny bit of Wuya, at which she howled in pain. The black cords of the evil mass released Wuya completely and instead went for the small piece of her that I had accidentally sliced off and dragged it back to Melody. Before I could stop it, the dark mass disappeared completely, along with that small piece of Wuya. My golden light surrounded Melody in a cocoon as it filled up the entire egg with its power and light, pushing Wuya out at the same time.

I sighed, exhausted from giving away my strength and power. I went to pull my hands away, but they wouldn't move. I tugged on them. They wouldn't budge. I started getting worried, then remembered that Master Fong said that she would suck me in! As soon as I thought those thoughts, I felt a tug on my hands. I looked up from them and into the egg.

Melody had stopped screaming when the dark mass had retreated. She gasped and writhed. She was no longer bleeding, but with the force and the shock of the darkness, her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. Her eyes were wide open, from the shock, but the only light was the light that I had put in her egg. Her eyes, though open, spilled no light, but the whole of her entire eye was still red with unshed blood. Her hands were clenching and unclenching, like she was still trying to fight something.

Again, I felt the pull. This time it was constant. I could see within the egg that the golden light was gradually being sucked away; Melody was absorbing it. I looked at my hands again and saw that the golden light was tied into my fingers with tiny threads. I tugged at my hands again, but they still didn't come away. I kept up my own pull and said, "Um, guys? A little help, please? She's trying to suck me in! I'm stuck!"

Jack was sitting on the floor where he landed when I pushed him, watching in silence with stunned interest. I think he may have also been frozen with shock. Omi, Clay, Kimiko, Master Fong, and Dojo came and grabbed hold of me and pulled. By now, my hands were fully within the egg's watery membrane and they continued to be sucked in until I was up to my elbows in goo.

We were all straining to pull me out. I grit my teeth and tried to pull back with my feet. I could see a wad of white tissue starting to float towards me. _If that thing latches onto me,_ I thought, _I'm done for!_ I clenched my fists, still submerged in the goo that filled the egg.

The instant I did so, the gold threads of light that were attached to my fingers broke off with an audible _Snap!_ and we all tumbled backwards into a heap on the floor. I stood up and flexed my fingers while the others stood and brushed themselves off. We all watched , transfixed, as Melody absorbed the remains of my golden light before the tissues and tendrils connected to her contracted and pulled both the membrane and the egg pieces back together. Before they closed, I saw her curl up in on herself and relax, closing her eyes. All of the cracks where the egg had been shattered glowed a blindingly bright blue that disappeared as each crack was sealed. Melody's egg was whole again.

Kimiko and Clay turned around to deal with Jack Spicer, while Omi and Dojo inspected the egg and Master Fong inspected me.

"You're extremely lucky, Raimundo. You should have listened to me." Master Fong said sternly. When I bowed my head, though, his voice was softer. "However, I'm glad you didn't. Something terrible would have happened if you did, I'm sure. You salvaged the situation and kept it from becoming a complete disaster. I doubt anyone else could have done so." Then, in a whisper, he said, "Fate has chosen you, hasn't she?" Master Fong said as he looked me over. He made sure my arms were okay before letting go. I looked up at him.

"I already know of your encounter with Fate, Raimundo. I believe she has entrusted to you a great knowledge. She wouldn't give that sort of thing to just any ordinary mortal, now, would she?" So he already knew. How did he even find out? Oh, duh. Fate probably told him. Oh well. At least it's not a total secret, now. It'll be easier to keep. And if Master Fong thinks that the others should know, then he'll tell them. I just hope he doesn't know the exact details of my encounter with Melody…

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**YAY! Review! Review! Review! Review! _NOW!_** Please?


	11. Chapter 9

**Ugh. I don't feel too hot after giving blood. That's right, today I gave blood. The nurses are gonna email me with my blood type, so if I have it by the next update, I might tell you! This chapter is more poetic than the others. I hope you enjoy!**

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Chapter 9

Melody

I am surrounded in beautiful light. I am comfortable. I am sleeping. I am dreaming.

I dream of a warm fire, gently melting away all of my pain and worries. I dream of bright fireworks in the night sky. I dream of watching the sunrise in the morning. I dream of warm places, of sunny skies and blooming flowers. I dream of little bumblebees drifting lazily on a summer day. I dream of watching the sunset as red hues of sunlight stain the sky until I can no longer see. I dream of watching the gentle ripples of a deep, colored pool change colors, shifting from red to purple to blue, then fading away completely.

This was my first dream.

Another dream starts. I dream of parting vines in the forest. I dream of touching the delicate little flowers that grew on them. I dream of feeling the wind that brushes through the grass. I dream of smelling the wildflowers that grow in the meadow. I dream of sitting under an ancient oak tree. I dream of playing in the dappled sunlight. I dream of woodland creatures roaming freely. I am at peace. I am inspired. I am happy.

This was my second dream.

I dream again. I dream of being a mermaid. I dream that my scales are white. I dream that I'm swimming in the ocean. I dream about playing with the dolphins. I dream of listening to whale songs. I dream of jumping out and tasting the sky. I dream watching the seahorses sway. I dream of exploring hidden caverns. I dream of the warm waters freezing away. Then I dream I'm not a mermaid. In my dream, I admire the frozen crystals that shine with silver light. I feel awe. I feel joy. I see wonders.

This was my third dream.

The next dream begins. I fly. I soar. I'm a bird flying free. I am the free-est thing on Earth. I feel love and joy and wonder all around me. I'm wrapped up in warmth. Golden rays of sunshine light up the beautiful loving sky. I plunge into the trees and I feel myself changing. I am an angel. I watch over the world. I protect the world. I give the world joy. I soar the highest. I fly the quickest. I am powerful. I am strong. I am loved… I am needed. I feel the rush of wind. I play with the clouds. I sense someone's presence. I fly down to meet him. I dive into the trees. I change into a bird again. And I perch on my true love's knee as he pets me and I sing for him. He is my PureHeart. My PureHeart…

My final dream ends.

I'm awake now. I find myself surrounded in a cushion of white stuff. I have absolutely no idea what it is, or how I got here. All I remember was that I was about to eat dinner with what would be my new-found friends and the next thing I knew, I found myself dreaming. There was nothing else. Wherever I am, it's weird. I feel extremely sleepy when I should feel refreshed. I'm curled up in a sort of ball position with this soft gooey stuff all around me. I tried to look down at myself, but everything was fuzzy. I tried to move. Why can't I move? I try to turn my head, but everything is slow, like I'm underwater. I feel like I'm not even breathing air. I get the relief of it, but it's like dreaming I'm underwater and feeling myself breathe. I look at my arms and try to make sense of what I see. It seems as if there are little gooey ropes wrapped all around me. So that's why I can't move. I can hardly see past the white cushions. There's only one spot of light that I can see through.

I hear muffled voices. Closing my eyes, I tried to hear what was being said, but I couldn't. My eyes decided to stay shut and I fell asleep again.

This time, I dreamt only of random shapes and colors. Somewhere in the middle, I think I dreamt of Raimundo, but as soon as that bit was over, I promptly forgot it. At some point, I just stopped dreaming. I took no notice of it. It was just like normal sleeping; you don't take notice, you don't feel it, it just happens.

I don't know how much time had passed when I began to stir again. I felt a sort of pressure around me, as well as a sense of unease. Through my thin film of awareness, I heard voices again. They were brief but very loud. I still couldn't hear what was being said and I paid no attention to it, either. I was almost completely asleep again when it started.

Pain. Horrible, agonizing, and brutal pain. Like electricity shooting through my veins, my blood boiled inside me, burning me. My eyes burned with a brilliant light and the material around me had expanded violently away from me. It all happened so fast. I didn't realize, or even register that I was screaming. I could see, though. Shattered bits of flat, angular, and solid objects were scattered around on top of a thin, transparent barrier. My limbs were pulled away from me, held aloft and exposed. My limbs were fully outstretched and the ropes that bound me were each connected to one of the pieces of solid objects floating around and above me. Thick white globs of gooey material snapped forward at something above me. I tried to focus, but the pain wouldn't let me. It crowded my mind and it was impossible to keep still. My body jerked and spasmed, trying to yank itself free of the constricting ropes that held me in place.

My chest began to burn. A hot liquid bubbled up out of my chest. It was heavy and all of the pain that radiated through my body came from this dark red blob sitting on me. The red was so deep, so dark, that at first I thought it was black. What a trivial thing to think of at a time like this!

But I can't think. The red thing is boiling hot and freezing cold at the same time. I can't do anything. I can only endure. I find myself thinking of a book I read in my original world. The Twilight Saga. In part two of the last book, _Breaking Dawn_, Bella turns into a vampire. Burning, burning, that's all she felt during the Change. Venom burned through her veins, boiling her blood, slowly changing her while she was charred alive. I feel exactly the same way, only this must be worse, because the freezing cold burns much more painfully. Hot and cold at the same time, fire and ice, it equals to pure agony.

With all these thoughts racing through my head, another reference from my other world popped up. I recited a poem in my head.

_**Fire and Ice**_

_Some say the world will end in fire._

_Some say in ice._

_From what I've tasted of desire,_

_I hold with those who favor fire._

_But if it had to perish twice,_

_I think I know enough of hate_

_to say that for destruction, ice_

_is also great_

_and would suffice._

The poem distracted me, but only a little bit. The blob on my chest grew bigger and heavier. Tears and blood had dripped down my face while I screamed. I don't think I could even feel myself screaming. Those noises couldn't be coming from me. I feel slightly apart from myself, but I can still feel this terrible pain! My vision turned red. I shrieked louder as the pain intensified. I could feel the barrier around me shudder and the pieces bobbed around above me.

Above me… there is something purple. My vision focused a little with this thought and I saw it a little more clearly. A little purple blob with something white in the middle was struggling around in the blobs sickly grasp. It was dragging the poor thing to me and a new fear arose. It was a fear for me and the purple thing's safety. The blob grew bigger still, and tentacles began to snake around me, slicing my skin and feeding on my burning blood. My throat was hoarse from my terrified screams.

Then I felt a nudge from the outside. I jerked my head around and looked to the side in time to see brilliant gold ribbons of light slice cleanly through the goo and attack the blob. I can sense the strength of the light, and the… love?...it was fashioned from. Again and again, multiple ribbons of golden light struck the blob, driving it away from most of my body and back into the core of my heart. Oh, the burning… Soon, all that was left were the tentacles that bound the purple thing. The ribbons hammered away at them, but they only dragged the struggling thing closer. Finally, the gold ribbons sliced off a part of the purple thing, and the tentacles abandoned it and settled for the small piece that was sliced off. They retreated into me, dragging the small piece of purple along with them. My body jerked and spasmed again, as the freezing cold penetrated my heart. Sadness, anger, fury, and most painfully…Darkness. My heart was still suffering, but the gold ribbons continued to chase all the pain away.

The sense of relief that washed over me was agonizing in its own way. The gold light surrounded me and healed all of my wounds, making the pain go away. Already, the burning sensation was becoming a forgotten nightmare, although it wasn't completely out of my mind. My body absorbed the strength and love in the gold ribbons, forcing me to forget the nightmare of darkness rampaging through my soul. Everything around me was hazy in the light, like fine mist. Amazingly enough, my eyes eventually drifted shut and I fell asleep again.

I dreamed once more. I stood in front of a tall mirror. I could see my reflection, but I saw a different version of me behind it. It was me, only it wasn't. The mirror seemed to give me a double image. I could see myself and the other me. There was a tall beautiful girl who was the spitting image of me. We shared the same face and figure, but our colors were different. The image of me seemed to glow with light, while the other girl seemed to suck in the darkness around her.

My appearance had changed since I last looked in a mirror, which was before I came to this world. My hair was still pale blonde, but now the gold colors looked more like silver and it was shinier. The other girl's hair was jet black. Imagine being deep inside a dark cave without any lights. Her hair was darker than that, if possible. It was shiny and long and perfectly straight, just like mine, only she had bangs and I didn't.

My eyes had always been a brilliant bright blue. The only difference was that they were brighter and bluer. The other girl's eyes were a brilliantly bright red, and I was once again reminded of the Twilight Saga. How can her eyes be so deep and dark, like blood, yet so shockingly bright and brilliant? I wondered.

While my skin was usually a pale tan color, when I looked in the mirror, I saw that I wasn't as tan and a little more pale, but in a creamy way. I was somewhere in between cream and honey. The other girl's skin was pale, too, but it was an even mix of ivory and alabaster. We were both stunningly beautiful.

I wore no make-up and my clothes were weird. I wore something that looked like a tube-top, only longer and not slutty. The bottom of it came up in a triangular fashion, the point just below my sternum. I wore simple, white, short shorts that clung to my skin, and on the front and back, there was a long strip of cloth that was connected to the shorts. The tops of each cloth were attached to the waist of the shorts and the corners of each were attached to corners of the other. It was like wearing a slitted skirt that had the slits go all the way up, only I was wearing shorts underneath. The edges of the top and skirts were lined with gold.

I was barefooted, but it felt comfortable and natural. A bracelet of small feathers adorned each of my wrists and the same for each ankle. The gold locket that Daddy had given me sat in the hollow of my throat.

The girl, however, wore more normal-looking clothes. She had on black eye shadow and black eye-liner for make-up, making her already too bright red eyes pop out even more. Black wristbands with silver studs embedded in them decorated each wrist and her long fingernails were painted black. For a shirt, it was a plain black cameo that just barely showed her bellybutton and was plainly a boob-shirt. She wore short shorts just like mine, only black. She wore a pair of black, knee-high, lace-up combat boots that were adorned with multiple straps and buckles. They looked just like the kind of boots that emo army-brats wear. She had a heart-shaped locket just like mine, only it was pure and pitch black.

We studied each other for a moment. We moved at the same time, so I thought that she really was a screwed up reflection of me. I was still looking at her in the mirror when she looked down at her hands of her own accord and said, "Huh. So this is what it's like to be alive."

I jumped back, startled.

"D-did you just talk?" I stammered. The girl looked up, seeming not at all surprised that I talked.

"Yeah"

"But aren't you in the mirror? Aren't you just my reflection?"

"From this side, it looks like _you're_ a reflection, too." She said.

The mirror shattered and the pieces floated up and disappeared.

"Who are you?" I asked her. She just looked at me blankly.

"Who are you?" I said again.

"I don't know. I know _what_ I am, and how I was made, but I don't know who I am. This is my first time being alive." I looked at her, confused.

"Okay, then. _What_ are you?" I asked.

"I'm you, I think. I mean, I've always been _with_ you. I can see your memories and hear your thoughts. And I've been gifted with a sort of knowledge of things."

"What did you mean when you said that this is the first time you've been alive? It doesn't make sense."

"You sure ask a lot of questions. I was referring to what I am. I am made up of all your sadness, angers, fears, worries, and regrets. I am made of all mankind's' natural evils, as well as your own sins, however few they may be. I was brought to life with the magic we're both surrounded in and your blood. Also, this." The girl's hand turned intangible. She reached inside herself and pulled out a small, squirming, purple thing. She held it out for me to see.

"This is the essence of a terribly evil being. A witch, I believe, named Wuya." She placed it back inside herself.

"That's kinda gross," I said, pointing at her. She smiled at me.

"Haven't you realized, yet? I'm evil, although I don't really feel it. I wouldn't really know, anyway. I've never felt before."

"Yeah, I get it," I said, shrugging. "So, where are we?" I looked around for the first time at our surroundings. They seemed to fade in and out of focus. Once I tried to figure out where we were, everything snapped into place.

We stood in the middle of a gloomy, silent forest. Barren trees, some with ashy leaves still clinging to them, stood tall and gray. I expected them to be knarled, but they were regular ol' creepy trees. Dead leaves littered the ground, but they didn't crunch underfoot when I shifted. They were rotted. A twisted root stuck up here and there. Fog drifted silently between the trees, but not enough that I couldn't somewhat see through it. It was just enough to keep someone lost and confused, as well as terrified and paranoid. This was the sort of place that you'd imagine a horror movie would take place. I half expected to see a dead body hanging from one of the tree limbs above us when I looked up.

"Creepy…" I muttered. This place gives me the creeps, all right. I can't wait to get out of here!

"I can look at your memories and listen to your thoughts. I see how this place would bother you, and I know why, too, but it doesn't affect me." The girl said.

"You can see my memories? Huh. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. You're part of me, right?"

"Yeah. Looking back through your past, I have to acknowledge my existence before I turned sentient. Sweet punch, by the way. It was me who fueled it. I was that pit of darkness at the bottom of your heart." The girl had of far-away look in her eyes. She was watching my memories, no doubt.

"So where are we, again?" I asked.

"This is your world. Not your original one, the one we were born in, but the one created in your mind."

"What, this? This can't be it!"

"It's a small portion of your world. Your physical body is still undergoing change, so you don't have total access to it. This is the place where all the bad things go. Everything evil that I'm made up of resides here. Including me."

"But you can't live here! You're my sister! I won't let you live here." The girl tilted her head to one side and appraised me.

"What?" I asked.

"Why do you call me a sister?" she asked. I _did_ consider her as my sister. She's made from me, but we look the same and we were born together. Not only that, but it seems we've been _remade_ together, too. I told her what I had been thinking, even though I had a sneaking suspicion that she had already listened to it in my head.

"I think we're twins. We're identical twins. The only difference is our outlooks and our colors. We're the same person, but we're each our own. Isn't it cool?"

"No, we're both you. I was born in you and made from you. I am your opposite, your dark side. I doubt we'll be fighting on the same side very often."

"True. Hey, don't you have a world, too?" I asked. I paid no mind to what this other me had said.

"Huh? Why would I have a world?" she wondered.

"Because you're sentient! Don't you have an imagination? Don't you have your own mind and willpower?"

"Well, sure, but—"

"Then you'll have your own world! Everyone has their own world, right?" I said. She nodded. "Then you have a world, too. We just have to find it."

"Well, you _are_ the Traveler, so I'm sure I can find it. I wouldn't be able to if we weren't connected. But we are; we have been from birth."

"What are you talking about?"

"Only the Traveler can gain access to and view their own personal world and what lies within it. And when the Traveler connects with someone and takes them into their world, then that person is always welcome back at anytime, and they can explore the realm that the Traveler created. If they can figure a few things out, it's possible that they can see the memories of your entire life. Anything is possible in an imagined world. And through you, the people you connect with will also be allowed into their own world. You're right. Everyone does have their own world; they just can't see it. They don't have the key to their own door. The doors will become part of your world and only those they belong to will have the key. I've seen a door in these woods as I've wandered. Maybe it belong to me."

"Then let's go find it!" I said. I grabbed her hand and started walking. The girl, my new sister, held back.

"Uh, Melody? Maybe I should lead. I know these woods like I was reading a map. I know where the door is."

"Oh, then… Hey, how do you know so much about this Traveler business anyway?"

The girl laughed, then said, "I wasn't born stupid. The instant I grew sentient I was filled with all of your knowledge and memories, yet I knew they weren't my own. I know about all of this, because Fate hid the knowledge inside you, set to come out when it was time. From what I've gathered of Fate, I think she planned on my existence from the start, so I can fill you in on some things, keep you company, and give you purpose. We're gonna be fighting a lot, I can already tell."

We walked on through the silent wood. Our footsteps were silent. _If someone wanted to sneak up on us, they could do it so easily! But maybe it would be creepier if the leaves actually crunched._ I listened as we walked. _Nope. Plenty creepy if they don't. Man, I'd HATE to live here! __Major__ heebie-jeebies._

"You know, for just a small portion of my world, it's pretty darn big. I'm gonna name this place The Dark Wood, 'cos everything dark about me is apparently in here. You don't have a name yet, why don't you choose one?"

"I don't know how I should do it. I wouldn't know a good name for me anyway. Why don't you give me a name, instead?"

"Give you name? You have to choose one for yourself! I don't have that kind of right. Fate made me forget my real name, and I had to choose a new one. You should be able to do the same."

"I haven't lived in your original world. All I have is your comprehension of different names and such, and you never really thought about names much. I don't have the sort of thinking yet to choose my own name."

I thought about this and went through a mental list of names as we walked. My sister led me through The Dark Wood and we seemed to wander aimlessly. Everything looked the same! Eventually, the trees thinned out and we came to a small clearing.

In the middle of the wilted grass was a great, black oak tree. It stood taller than all of the other trees in the wood and its wide branches were thickly covered with dark, purple leaves. Glowing red acorns hung in various parts of the canopy; they were the only sources of light and color that I had seen so far. A smooth, black door was embedded in the middle of the humungous trunk, ivy climbing over it. A red, crystal doorknob the shade of blood stuck out from the ivy on the side.

My sister let go of my hand and we stopped 5 feet from the door.

"I was standing in front of it I awoke. I didn't realize what it was until I met you."

We tried the doorknob, but it was locked. So we tried to clear away the ivy, but it was too stubborn, clinging to the tree and the door. After a while, we realized that the ivy wasn't coming off by force. I saw that besides the doorknob, an empty plaque centered at the top of the door was free of the ivy. I pointed at it and said, "I think you need a name before your door can be opened."

I sat down and thought. My sister wandered around the tree, inspecting it. She jumped up and caught one of the low branches, then pulled herself into the leaves. I listened to her climb as I tried to think of the perfect name for her. I looked up in time to see her start to reach for a glowing acorn when a name unexpectedly hit me.

"Morgan!" I shouted. I startled her and she fell out of the tree.

"Ow…" she said. I helped her up as she rubbed her butt. "Did you have to shout?"

"I figured out your name," I said. "Your name is Morgan."

We heard a hissing sound and turned back towards the tree. The ivy was retreating from the door and crumbling away into dust. The ivy all around the tree was doing the same. Dust scattered down from the branches and disappeared. The plaque on the door turned from gray to shining gold as my twin's name was magically carved into it. It now read:

Morgan

Morgan turned the crystal doorknob and opened the door. We stepped inside. The door closed behind us and disappeared. There's no way out, now, I guess. Inside, it was a realm of nothing. No light, no sky, no anything. It was just pitch black.

Even though it was dark we could still see and feel. Every step we took was solid and each of us was illuminated.

"Why is there nothing here?" Morgan asked.

"You said yourself you were just given sentience. It's a brand new world. I've had 14 years to build mine up, but I guess every world has to start at nothing. Use your imagination and try to make something of this place."

The air above me shivered. I looked up to see a sky full of beautiful stars, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Constellations twinkled and the Milky Way illuminated the night sky. Morgan and I were suspended in space, or so it seemed. I looked down to see that the floor was still black, but now it was like smooth glass. It reflected the stars and gave the impression that we stood in the middle of space.

Tiny red lamps sprouted up out of the glassy floor. They ran in 2 rows that stood 5 feet apart from each other, with each lamp only a foot away from the next. The lamps formed a glowing walkway, lights dim and reflected in the glassy floor.

Morgan walked the path and I followed behind her. Before us, a solid black wall rose up and a red door appeared in the middle. We walked through and entered a long, rectangular room.

At the far end of the room, at the top of two, small, raised steps, there was a chair. It reminded me somewhat of a throne, only it was modernized and looked like an office chair without wheels. It was wide enough for both me and Morgan to sit in together, but it was clearly meant for only one. It was black, with red cushions. The arms were curved and fancy, as were the legs.

There were no windows in the room. I looked at the walls. They looked black from a distance, but up close, I could see that they were a deep, dark red. The floor was still shiny, but it was the same color as the walls in that it looked black but was actually the color of blood.

"Got a thing for red, I see," I mumbled. Morgan's gaze swept over the room. Dim wall sconces appeared and intricate tapestries adorned the walls. The door we came through grew a dial.

"It seems my world has somewhat been premade," Morgan said. "This dial controls where you go. The land has already been named, too. Let's see… I want to go to the Cliffs of Obliteration."

"Uh, the Cliffs of Obliteration don't sound real safe. Are you sure we should go?"

"Are you gonna help me explore my world or not?"

"_Yes_," I sighed. Morgan turned the dial and opened the door.

The place that we had gone to was wide and flat. Actual living grass and wild roses grew in abundance. Thin, dark trees were scattered about the landscape. Across from us, the grass cut off suddenly. I walked to the edge to see better, only to realize it was cut off because it was at the edge of the cliff. Beyond it, the nothingness extended forever. The stars didn't even penetrate it. Morgan came up beside me and looked over the edge.

"If anything falls in, it'll keep falling forever. Either that or it'll just disappear into nothingness. I image it's the latter; these aren't called the Cliffs of Obliteration for nothing, I suppose."

"It's a shame the stars don't extend as far. See? The stars stop where the Cliff begins." I pointed to where the stars cut off.

"How's this?" Morgan asked. Suddenly, the stars _did_ extend outward. I looked over the edge; they extended down into obliteration, too!

"How'd you do that?"

"I imagined it so. It's as easy as that."

"Great. Now I can't wait to try it myself in my world."

"You can try something now."

"Really?" Morgan nodded. "Well, okay then."

I held my hand before me and focused on it. I imagined a bird. I'd only seen a picture of this specific type of bird before, but I remember that I had stared at it for hours in one of my drawing fits when I was smaller. I closed my eyes and focused on the picture in my head and imagined that the living version of the bird would appear in my hand.

Seconds later, I held a squirming Vermilion Flycatcher in my hand. I released the bird and it flew away, disappearing into one of the trees.

"You're good at that," Morgan commented. "Can you make me more?"

"Sure."

And so I started drawing up my memories, recalling the names of birds and what they looked like. I imagined many birds into Morgan's world, remembering them from one of my grandmother's many bird books. Morgan looked through my memories as well and while she helped me remember the names of birds she liked the look of, she brought their many different habitats into her world. She told me she had a virtual map of her world in her head, and she placed the habitats around randomly. She _really_ liked the birds.

Barn Swallow. Purple Martin. Tree Swallow. Gray Jay. Black-Billed Magpie. Mountain Bluebird. Tufted Titmouse. Red-Whiskered Bulbul. Prothonotary Warbler. American Redstart. Yellow-Headed Blackbird. European Starling. Bullock's Oriole. Western Tanager. Northern Cardinal. Indigo Bunting. Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck. Northern Jacana. Paint-Billed Crake. Cuban Emerald. Golden Pheasant. Black Francolin. Glossy Ibis. Whooping Crane. Purple Gallinule. Cinnamon Teal. Mute Swan. Pied-Billed Grebe.

All 28 of these birds formed in an instant between my fingers as I thought of each one. Soon, I spread my arms wide, closed my eyes, and will more and more of those birds into existence. I felt the rush of wings as they flew from my chest and into the world. They flew far away, to their new homes scattered across Morgan's world.

As soon as I decided I was done, I picked up the stray feathers littering the ground and tossed them over the edge of the world. At about 15 feet down, they fizzed away. Morgan was right about the Cliffs. Anything that fell in would be obliterated.

Morgan took me back to the room with the chair, and we spent hours together, rearranging the room, adding things, and making the room fun, yet still evil-looking. We talked and played games, and for the first time ever, I felt like a normal 14-year-old girl. Or as normal as I could be considering the situation. It's a shame I didn't have any friends in my old world. Or maybe that's a good thing. I doubt anyone will miss me, except Grandma of course, and things are probably better this way, too.

"When you decide to hold Fate to her promise, can I come with you?" Morgan asked.

"Why?" I said.

"I wanna take part in your 'revenge'. Trust me, you'll have more fun with me around."

"And why is that?" I asked.

"You'll find out later." She said. I gave Morgan one of my 'looks'.

"What the hell kind of answer is that?" I shouted. She only laughed.

Eventually, when I got the chance to rest, I nodded off completely. The dream faded to black and I couldn't remember anything after that last conversation, if you could even call it that. She just brought it up out of the blue. Or black, seeing where we were, at the time. Things were quiet and I was only slightly aware that I was sleeping.

_What to do now,_ I thought. _Well, nothing I __**can**_ _do. I'd rather hang out with __Morgan__, but I she's more interested in making her world. I don't think she realizes that it's only fun for her. __And__ I don't know how to get to her._ _Besides that, it's probably something she needs to do by herself, anyway. And we __are__ supposed to be enemies. _I sighed. I was getting uncomfortable. How much longer am I gonna have to wait to wake up?

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**Hope you enjoyed! REVIEW! And stay tuned for next week's update!**


	12. Chapter 10

**ACK! Late update, late update! I am SOOOOOOOOooooooo _SO_ sorry! Please don't kill me!**

**Melodramatics aside, onto the reading! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 10

Raimundo

When I woke in the morning, I had the vague sense that something important was going to happen today. Then I got up. In the morning lull, I promptly forgot the feeling and went about the business of making breakfast and getting dressed. I joined my friends and we did our chores and trained and we went about our day in the usual fashion.

I kept getting the feeling of being lonely and restless. Even in the wide open area, I felt like I was cramped in a small space, and claustrophobic. I was having trouble breathing and a tight panic had set inside my chest. Several times, Kimiko asked me what was wrong. Omi suggested that I should sit out until I felt better. I didn't know what was wrong with me, until I caught a glimpse of a broken robin's egg in the grass and I remembered Melody. _These are Melody's feelings, not mine. I have to go see her._

When I remembered Melody, I reminded the others and we all went to visit her. The egg was the same as we had left it when we had turned in for the night. I laid my hand on it and Melody's feelings grew more potent, though her panic lessening at my touch. Soon, the warm feeling of contentment replaced everything else.

"Wonder how much longer it'll be," Clay said softly. We had some free time, so we hung out with Dojo, who was in the room watching over the egg. Mostly, we took turns playing Goo Zombies on Kimiko's portables, but my thoughts were elsewhere.

"Dojo, could you perhaps tell us about Grand Master Dashi?" Omi asked. It got my attention, as well as Kimiko's and Clay's. Dojo took a deep breath and prepared to tell us a story. I leaned my back against the egg, and rested my head on it, making sure I kept skin contact so Melody wouldn't freak out or feel lonely.

"I was a young dragon when I met Dashi. Well, young for a dragon, anyway. I had moved out of my parent's place and was lookin' for a place of my own. I'd heard that Wuya was terrorizing a few villages nearby, so I stayed clear of them. I was actually flying over a thick forest at the time when I first met Dashi. A big, blue vortex like the one Melody fell out of opened up in the sky in front of me and a man shot out of it! It startled me so bad, I almost didn't have time to react! The man was falling, so I raced towards him and caught him, then flew down and set him on the ground.

"When I shrank, he collapsed in a heap on the ground. He was bloody and broken and he was cold to the touch. I thought I had just saved a corpse, until he raised his hand slightly and said, 'Please stay, friend. You saved me, so please see me through until this is over. I would rather be at your mercy than someone else's. Stay, and I will thank you properly.'

"I had no idea what he was talking about, but I stayed like he asked me to. I didn't want to see him _die_, but something about him told me to stay anyway. So I did." Dojo paused, looking thoughtful.

"What happened next?" Kimiko asked, when Dojo didn't continue.

"Well, sort of the same thing that happened with Melody, except he didn't turn into an egg. This powerful, pure, magical water surrounded him and he was just in the middle of a big ball of it. It was bright blue and glowed, and acted like a force-field. It only lasted the rest of that day and that night, and at first light the next morning, the water rippled and drained into him, leaving him lying on the ground again.

"I remember how amazed I was. He sat up, brushed himself off, saw me, and smiled. He looked completely different than before. It was as if he was a totally different person, all cleaned up and healed, not to mention a change of clothes. He bent down until he was eye-level with me and said, still smiling, 'You stayed! Thank-you! Now, you deserve to know some more about me.' Then he touched my forehead with the tip of one finger, which had a tiny, glowing, blue spot on it.

"I experienced his whole life as him. He had lived way longer than I probably ever will, almost 10,000 years, and I lived every single day of it. I experienced every thought, every feeling and emotion, every single moment of all of the lives that he had lived in almost 10,000 years, in one, single second. I learned who he was, what he did, and what his purpose was. Our minds were connected through that, and I became his companion for the journey and his best friend.

"Though he had the strength, agility, and fighting skills, he still had to use magic to defeat Wuya. He said his own magic was useless as it was against Wuya, so he created the Shen-Gong-Wu to fight and defeat her. He took on two apprentices to fight by his side. He taught them both how to use the Shen-Gong-Wu, as well as some of the things he knew about fighting, and he trained them in both areas. He never did the memory thing with them, though. He never told anyone else but me about his life and origins.

"When he had given me his memories and connected our minds, Dashi had gifted me with the power to sense and track Shen-Gong-Wu. I could also track and sense Dashi, but I don't know if he intended that or if he even knew that I had that ability. I could tell the difference, though, between Dashi and things with Dashi's essence. The Shen-Gong-Wu are imbued with it, so I had a lot of practice deciphering the difference between the two.

"After Dashi defeated Wuya, there was a temple built in honor of him and his apprentices. That's this temple here. But Dashi didn't want attention or fame, he just wanted to be left alone. So to try to stay out of the spotlight, we disappeared. Dashi was a pig farmer, or a beggar, or a poor man. He would be hiding in plain sight as something most people would overlook. But his time after Wuya's defeat was short.

"I stayed with Dashi for the short remainder of his life. On the night of his permanent death, he gave me instructions to follow after he died. He had told me lots of stories about the wife and child he left behind in his last world, not to mention that when I had went through his memories, I had also experienced two years with his daughter and the lifetime with Harmony, and he reminded me again that his daughter was his only heir. He said that she would arrive in this world 1500 years after his death and that I should wait for her at the Xiaolin Temple. Then Dashi fell asleep and died, still smiling like he always did, the fool."

Dojo sighed mournfully. After hearing the story, I began to wonder about Dashi's purpose. From what I had learned from Fate, I knew that the Traveler always has a purpose when he or she enters a new world, and Dojo never mentioned Dashi's.

"Hey Dojo, what was Dashi's purpose here, anyway?" I asked.

"Grand Master Dashi came to defeat Wuya and prepare this world for the arrival of his daughter." Master Fong said, startling us. I didn't know he had come into the room, but he must have heard Dojo's story.

"Why?" Kimiko asked.

"Because this is her first world! He was preparing it for the next Traveler, as was his duty and obligation. The Traveler's first world is like training wheels, a training course for the rest of the worlds she will embark upon."

I felt a twinge of confusion, then the panic set in again. I had forgotten to keep skin contact with the egg. I reached behind me again and pressed my fingers to the cool surface of the egg. As the panic disappeared again, an errant thought raced around in my head. _She needs me even now! Things will be complicated enough between us since she'll have no memory of the bond. What's gonna happen if she senses her dependency on me? What'll she do? What'll she think? Not to mention what would happen if the others found out! What would __they__ think? And more importantly, how bad will they heckle me?_

My frantic thoughts had a sort of effect on Melody's egg. I felt the egg start, vibrating beneath my hand. Then I realized that it wasn't just me that was affecting the egg. From what Dojo had said earlier, her time to sleep was up. '_The rest of the night and half of the day…'_ I remembered.

"Uh, guys? Someone's wakin' up." I warned. The egg's rumbling was audible now. Then a sound like lightning cracked loudly in the room and we were instantly bathed in blinding blue light. I shot up off the floor and away from the egg, startled, and we all turned around.

An enormous crack had surfaced on the egg. Blue light flowed freely into the room from the split and the egg glowed brightly. We watched as more cracks appeared, the shell splintering at the top. A clean, neat line formed at waist-level and the fissures never went below it. More sounds of the splintering shell threw my stomach into nervous knots. The shell continued to fracture and very soon, the entire top half of the shell was mottled and broken up into thousands of tiny pieces no bigger than my pinky-nail, and most of it much smaller than that. For a complete second after the shell stopped fracturing, everything was silent but for a tiny tinkling sound. Light continued leaking into the room from a million tiny, splintered cracks.

It only lasted a second, though. The top half of the shell crumbled into dust and fell into the bottom. The light burst out and shown freely and I shielded my eyes. Slowly, we crept forward to peer inside what remained of the egg.

The dust was moving. It glowed and pulsed and it bunched up and spread out, constantly kneading itself like it was bread. When it stopped moving, I realized that it had softened and transformed into a beautiful blanket. The blues perfectly blended together and all of our elemental patterns were once again displayed in an eternal dance.

The blanket settled and I saw what it was trying to protect. Underneath it, Melody slept soundly, curled up in the white cushions filling the bottom half of the eggshell. She looked almost exactly as she did when we met in the dream! Her hair was still white-silver blonde and her skin was still that perfect pale-tan. And her face was still the same!

"Melody…" I called softly. "Melody, wake up, now."

"Meh-lodyyyyy…" Dojo sang. Melody stirred faintly, her finger twitching slightly. Clay, Omi, and Kimiko joined in singing her name, but she still didn't wake up.

"I thought you said she was waking up, Raimundo." Kimiko whispered.

"Melody, you must wake up, now." Master Fong said.

"She is." I whispered back at Kimiko. I reached down and touched my fingers to her face.

"Melody, wake up. I think you've had enough time to sleep in, already." I said.

"Mmm…" she mumbled. I smiled, and, on a whim, sang, "Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey!" Kimiko snorted and tried to stifle a laugh while Clay grinned. I grimaced. Then I felt Melody's awareness and I looked down at her again.

"Idonwanna…" Melody muttered. Her eyes slowly opened and she peered at us sleepily.

"By the way, do you know how much I hate that saying?" she grumbled. I laughed and she stuck her tongue out at me as she sat up. She climbed out of her bed, for I realized that's what it was now, and she stood unsteadily on her new legs.

Her clothes had been changed. Instead of the dress she wore in the dream, she wore a tube-like shirt that showed off her bellybutton (as well as most of her torso) and a pair of shorts with a long cloth in the front and behind, covering the shorts and acting as a slitted skirt. Both garments looked to be made of something fine like silk, yet sturdy like wool, and they were both white and trimmed with gold. Melody still wore the little gold locket and a thin ring of white feathers adorned her wrists and ankles. She still wore no shoes.

Melody rubbed her face, looked down at herself, made a face and groaned, then said, "Augh. I feel like a Barbie doll! How long have I been out?" She leaned against the egg/bed and resumed rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"The rest of yesterday, all through the night, and most of this morning," Omi answered her.

"How are ya feelin'?" Clay asked.

"Well, aside from getting shot, killed, beaten, and then someone electrocuting me while I tried to sleep, **FINE** I guess!"

"Sarcasm's a little thick there, don't cha think?" Kimiko remarked. Melody's face lost some of her irritation and she looked tired again.

"Sorry. I feel pretty steamed about that last thing, and I wish I could at least get back at the woman who murdered me. I might as well have gotten it out now, though. I don't want to be irritated all day. I'm sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you."

"It's good that you are able to release your negative energies and focus on better things, as well as recognize your faults. I won't have to teach you that." Master Fong said. "Now then, shall we get started?"

"Uh, start what?" Melody asked. She looked at each of us, confused. I didn't know what was happening, either.

"Training." Master Fong put simply. Melody's jaw dropped.

"Y-You mean, you're really making me a—"

"A Xiaolin Warrior? Yes. We'll take things slow at first, but you start after you've had something to eat." Melody's eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung slack with surprise. Her shoulders had dropped, so she looked like she was either scared or sad, until she straightened again and grinned, her eyes sparkling with gratitude and appreciation.

"A few days ago, if someone had told me that I would become a Xiaolin Warrior and fight alongside the four of you, I'd have written them off as crazy. From the time when I first learned about you all, I've always wanted to be here! I never thought that it would actually happen!" Melody's eyes gleamed and her feelings radiated through me. I could tell that she was extremely happy with the news!

"Good. I am glad to hear so. Follow me and we'll get you some food."

She followed Master Fong and we all had lunch. Then for an hour after, we didn't get to see Melody at all. Master Fong wasn't kidding around when he said that she would be starting after she ate.

Master Fong had told us that he would train Melody separately from us. He said that he didn't know how powerful she was and that she didn't need an audience. He told us to stay away, and he took Melody somewhere in the farthest reaches of the temple grounds.

The four of us couldn't hear anything or see anything regarding Melody or Master Fong. In fact, I couldn't even feel Melody's emotions. For a complete hour, it was as if Melody and Master Fong didn't exist. We looked all over the temple grounds in search of them.

When we finally gave up the search and returned to the main temple, I couldn't believe my eyes. Melody and Master Fong were chatting happily and drinking tea, as if they never left for training.

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**Well, that's it! I hope you've enjoyed chapter ten, and I really am sorry about the late update. Things might get a little out of control with the update thing, as I am yet again without a laptop and have to resort to the school computers. Crazy bastards... Anyway, tune in either this Friday, or next Friday! We'll see what happens!**


	13. Chapter 11

**AAAACCCCCKKKKK! I'msorryI'msorryDon'tkillmeDon'tkillme! Crazy all around! Just read and review!**

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Chapter 11

Melody

"Melody…" a voice called softly. "Melody, wake up now…"

"Meh-lodyyyyy…" a gruff voice sang. A chorus of voices began to sing my name over and over. What a delightful dream, I thought. To have my name sung to me in such sweet splendor! It was peaceful. I think I smiled!

"Melody, you must wake up now." A solemn voice said. Huh. Why didn't he sing it? He's supposed to sing my name! Why did he sound all serious? Hey, why are they singing my name, anyway? What's going on, here?

Something warm touched my face and I was suddenly filled with contentment. I was comfortable right where I was, but all the same, I felt ready to get up. Wait a second. The voices were calling for me to wake up!

"Melody, wake up. I think you've had enough time to sleep in, already." The first voice spoke, again. I tried to tell it that I was trying, but all that came out was, "Mmm…"

"Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey!" the voice cooed. I heard giggles in the background and I felt irritated.

"Idonwanna," I mumbled stubbornly. None the less, I opened my reluctant eyes and peered at my visitors sleepily.

"By the way," I grumbled. "Do you know how much I HATE that term?" Raimundo laughed and I stuck out my tongue at him and sat up.

I found myself in a bed with a beautiful blanket over me. I pushed it back and climbed out. The bed reminded me of a baby crib, which, strangely, irritated me even more. I stood unsteadily, then noticed my clothes. I was wearing the same outfit I wore in the dream with Morgan.

"Augh, I feel like a Barbie doll! How long have I been out?" I asked. I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"The rest of yesterday, all through the night, and most of this morning," Omi said. Figures. A day and a night and I'm still tired!

"How are ya feelin'?" Clay asked.

"Well, aside from getting shot, killed, beaten, and then someone electrocuting me while I tried to sleep, FINE I guess!" I didn't mean to sound bitchy. Sarcasm dripped off of every word I'd said and I was extremely irritated. _Stop it, __Morgan_, I thought silently. _These are my friends, I don't want to be a bitch._ I heard Morgan's low laughter in the back of my head.

"Sarcasm's a little thick there, don't cha think?" Kimiko remarked. Dammit, now I _really _felt bad.

"Sorry. I feel pretty steamed about that last thing, and I wish I could at least get back at the woman who murdered me. I might as well have gotten it out now, though. I don't want to be irritated all day. I'm sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you." I said apologetically.

"It's good that you are able to release your negative energies and focus on better things, as well as recognize your faults. I won't have to teach you that." Master Fong said. "Now then, shall we get started?"

I looked around, confused. "Uh, start what?" I asked.

"Training." My jaw dropped.

"Y-You mean you're really making me a—"

"A Xiaolin Warrior? Yes. We'll take things slow at first, but you start after you've had something to eat." Master Fong said. Amazing. Amazing! I'm gonna be a Xiaolin Warrior! How long have I dreamt of coming to the temple and meeting the others? A long, long time! I'm in shock! What should I say to this?

I grinned stupidly.

"A few days ago, if someone had told me that I would become a Xiaolin Warrior and fight alongside the four of you, I'd have written them off as crazy. From the time when I first learned about you all, I've always wanted to be here! I never thought that it would actually happen!" I exclaimed.

"Good. I am glad to hear so. Follow me and we'll get you some food." Master Fong said. I followed him and we all ate lunch together. Omi talked almost non-stop about a variety of things. I didn't speak much. What was I supposed to say? Everything seemed casual and they all acted as if things were normal.

I suppose they could differ from what I've known about them. For all I know, the writers back in my original world might have mixed things up in the series. I've read a lot of things on Wikipedia about that sort of stuff, where no one is able to make up their mind. But Kimiko still looks like Kimiko, Clay still looks like Clay, Omi still looks like Omi, and Raimundo still looks like Raimundo.

Kimiko is from Hong Kong, Japan. She has long, sleek, black hair that she wears pulled into two pig-tails. Her eyes are a sweet baby-blue that are framed by long eyelashes, and when she isn't wearing any of the fancy outfits that she brought from home, she wears a robe-like tunic with long sleeves and a black sash wrapped around her waist. The tunic comes down in a V-neck and one edge of it rests on her side, leaving the rest of it to hang like a slitted skirt.

Clay, from what I knew, was born and raised in Texas. He's a burly dude with sandy blonde hair that hangs in his eyes. Like Kimiko, he has blue eyes, too, except they are the color of sky. Today he wore his Temple uniform, a red tunic coupled with a pair of loose white slacks, along with his ten-gallon western hat. The hat isn't part of the uniform, but no matter what, Clay will never part with it. Consider it a sort of security blanket. Nothing is right unless Clay has his hat.

Omi. He's a vertically-challenged ninja. He has a very small body and an unusually large head. Being Chinese, naturally, he's supposed to be short. But Omi has a toddler's body. Also, from what I already knew, Omi doesn't have a special change of clothes. He's lived at the Temple all his life, so he wears only the Temple uniform, only instead of white slacks, his are black. Another prominent thing that anyone would notice about Omi is his extreme—er—baldness. I think "chrome-dome" when I see it. Because of his lack of hair, he has a very wide forehead, furthering the impression of a toddler. I can't see it now, but I know that when Omi uses his ninja focus, nine dots, aligned in a three-by-three square formation, appear in the center of his forehead. I don't know exactly what they are, but I believe they are a sign of his chi, or maybe his power.

And finally, Raimundo. He came from Brazil. He is really tan, almost a mocha color, and he has layered brown hair that looks like he just rolled out of bed. He doesn't have to style it. Mine's the same way. It's baby fine, and falls easily into its own pattern. I don't have to really brush it, except it's really long. Anyway, Raimundo has awesome hair. He has chocolate colored eyes. Today, he, too, wears his Temple uniform. Out of them all, he looks better in it.

After I ate, Master Fong told the others that he'd be training me separately from them and that they were to stay away. Master Fong didn't know how powerful I was and he didn't want me to have an audience. I think he was afraid that they would get hurt, although I can't imagine why. I didn't _feel_ powerful. I didn't feel any different than what I usually did.

Master Fong led me to the other side of the temple grounds. He had a small training course set up for me, and we did exercises together. He asked to see what little defensive maneuvers I knew, and I showed him. He said that we could build on that.

I've always had strength and agility, as well as discipline and patience, a result of my ballet classes. For some reason, though, I felt as if my landings were like a cat's. I felt extra light-weight, as if I had no substance at all or weighed as light as a feather.

Master Fong had me training for an hour, testing my abilities and improving my stances. He taught me a few new moves for defense, as well as some good attack techniques. The experience was different than when I was taught by my other teachers. He was completely focused on me, instead of a whole class. I feel like I really learned something from him!

I didn't get to see my new friends at all during the hour. Of course, I didn't really expect to. After all, Master Fong _did _tell them to stay away. Not that they would listen, I suppose. I thought that they would at least come to bug us after my training was over, but they were no-shows. Oh, well, I thought. They have lives, too, I guess.

Master Fong guided me back to the main temple, and we had some tea. We chatted about a variety of pleasant things for about a half-hour before Omi, Clay, Kimiko, and Raimundo showed up, looking shocked to see me.

"How did—where were—but we—HUH?" Raimundo sputtered. I giggled.

"Cat got your tongue, Raimundo?" I said laughing. "Come on, have some tea with us!"

"So how did training go?" Clay wondered.

"Eh, beginner stuff. I learned a lot more than I did in my old world, though. I only had a couple RAD classes and 1 free karate session. But I didn't learn anything from karate. All I learned was the rules we had to follow in the class, which was a waste of my time. Grandma didn't approve of me fighting, anyway. She couldn't imagine it, so she wouldn't let me go."

"What other stuff did you do at home?" Kimiko asked. I settled back in my spot on the mat.

"Well, mostly art. I painted a lot, and drew, too. Grandma kept all my art in the gallery in the foyer. I kept pictures of them on my computer." I sighed. "Besides art, I danced and sang. Before I came here, it was my dream to be a famous singer. If I couldn't be a singer, then maybe a choreographer. And if the performing arts didn't work out how I wanted them to, then I'd just be a regular artist, or maybe an author. I had my life set out for me. I was gonna beat the critics and be known through-out the world. I had some pretty far-fetched dreams and goals."

"Wow. Sorry about your dreams and stuff. You look like you really wanted them." Raimundo said.

"Yeah, it's not so bad. I spent a lot of time on my computer and pretty much EVERYTHING is on it. That's what I'm gonna miss the most; my laptop had all of the things precious to me. Internet was just a perk. My treasury of art, my history, my diary, all the pictures of my family… Not to mention my archives! I just wish I had it here with me—" Suddenly, there was a whoosh and a big blue vortex appeared above me and dropped a package in my lap. Then it disappeared.

"O…K…then…" Kimiko muttered.

"What is it?" Clay asked.

"There's a note," Raimundo said, picking it up. "For 'Angel'." I gasped. Suddenly my eyes burned. They watered and my skull felt like it exploded. My limbs felt like ice and an electric shock jolted through me, knocking me to the ground. Everything was black for a second, then I forgot the name and sat up.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW… What just happened?" They were all staring at me, shocked. "What?"

"Melody, you had a reaction to your name… a scary one." Omi said shakily. "Your eyes are glowing blue and the rest of you is glowing gold and white."

"My name? My real name? What is it? Can you tell me?" I asked. They just shook their heads.

"Melody, you are not meant to know your real name. If you were, you wouldn't have had that reaction. Can you even remember what the name was?" Master Fong told me. I shook my head.

"The only other people who know my name is Grandma and Fate. Fate wouldn't purposely show me my name if I'm not allowed to know it, so my package must be from Grandma! How did she—" I paused as I started to unwrap the package. Raimundo still had the note with my name on it. He scratched it out and wrote 'Melody' over what was supposed to be my real name, then handed it back to me.

"Thanks…" I said hesitantly. I took it from him. I opened the note and read it.

I know how much you love your computer, and I'm sorry I didn't have time to give it to you before you left. So to make up for my mistake, Fate is letting me send it to you as a last minute gift. I love you sweetie, and I'll miss you very much. Have fun on your adventures and make every second count. 10,000 years may seem like a long time and it most certainly is, but that is no excuse to waste time and dawdle. You only get so much time with the ones you love, so use yours wisely. I'm okay, still, and your funeral has passed. How strange it must be for you to hear about it. I gave your old friend Roger a call, and he's on his way here. He regrets missing your funeral and wishes he could have spent at least one more hour with you to catch up. Say hello to your new friends for me, darling! Love you!

—_Grandma Violet_

I didn't know what to say. And again, Grandma mentioned someone named Roger. _"...Your old friend..." _Hmm. I resumed opening the package and sitting inside…

"My laptop!" I shrieked. I lifted it out of the box and held it up proudly. It still gleamed my favorite shade of green. Grandma had polished the top and made it shine before she sent it to me. How wonderful!

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear…" Kimiko touched the top of it with the tip of her finger and smiled.

"It's gorgeous, Melody!" I let the others 'oo' and 'ah' over my beautiful laptop. Master Fong let us be and I opened it.

A bright light and loud whirring noises erupted from the computer as I opened it. My laptop flew out of my hands and yet another strange phenomenon occurred before our eyes. Fate appeared.

I had forgotten how beautiful she was. Her long, black hair flowed at her sides and her golden eyes glinted brightly. I saw the others gape in wonder at this mysterious person. Then with a shock, I realized that the two of us were dressed the same. I wonder what they must think! Fate smiled at me and held out her hand.

In it, was a little green egg.

"FATE!" I shouted.

She spoke in her Godly voice.

"Melody, your grandmother has sent you a gift from your former home. However, I have decided that your gift should be altered a little bit. Your life, as you should have realized, will be spent in solitude. You can't take anything with you. But I've decided that I'll bend the rule a tiny bit and let you have this life-long companion. Your laptop has gained consciousness, my dear. A good friend and a handy tool all in one. Enjoy!" She then pushed the egg into my hands and turned to Master Fong.

"Do a good job training her, Wise One. She shall need it, and soon." She turned again and faced Dojo, Raimundo, Clay, Omi, and Kimiko. "Good luck, young warriors! I shall be watching." And with that, she disappeared in one graceful sweep of her arm and was gone. I sat in shock.

"When is stuff like this gonna quit suddenly happening?" I groaned. Jeeze! I feel weird enough without her just popping in at random and doing weird stuff. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

I held the green egg up. It was glossy and green, just like the surface of my laptop, but could it really be true? Kimiko took the egg from me and examined it.

"I wonder what she meant about it gaining consciousness. Will it be like a robot?" Kimiko asked.

"I hope not," I muttered. "How much weirder is my life gonna get?" I winced. Damn, I probably shouldn't have said that. Because the instant the words left my lips, the little green egg starting to tremble.

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**Cool! More original stuff from ME! *hint-hint* (the laptop will come to life!) Okay, so Melody is developing as a character and Raimundo is gonna be coming to terms with his emotions. Especially after I drop my little surprise on him!**

**TA for now! (BTW, updates are gonna be sketchy for a while. So if you read this, subscribe so you'll get updates right when they happen. Thanks!)**


	14. Chapter 12

**Hey there! Dadles here! I've been busy with a ton of other stuff lately, so please forgive me for the long wait. I've also been reading Chack FanFiction! Personally, I'm a fan of pretty much anything you put in front of me that is cute and includes gay couples (when did _that_ happen?). I noticed that there is NO LeMime under the character slot for the Xiaolin Showdown, and I was APPALLED! So I'm writing a new FanFiction, totally unrelated to this story, just to spite FanFiction, and it stars JackxLeMime! It'll include a background story for LeMime, too. Now read and enjoy!**

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Chapter 12

It shook and wobbled and then… it disassembled. Well, disassembled isn't really the word for it. It kind of came apart in little blocks. The egg melted away as if it was liquid metal and it reformed again back into my laptop.

I gave it a tentative poke. The screen popped up, startling me.

"Hello, master!" a cheery voice piped.

"WAH!" I jumped. "Who's there?" I shouted indignantly. The little voice giggled and said, "ME!" The laptop transformed into a tiny smiling robot. I stumbled to my feet.

"Kimiko, you jinxed me!" I said. I looked over at Kimiko, and she was laughing. They were all laughing!

"Wh-Why are you laughing at me?" I shouted at them. Kimiko sat up, still laughing, and between fits, said, "You have to see your face, Melody! It's hilarious!" I frowned at her and peer down at the tiny robot. The little robot was still smiling at me.

"Hi Master!" it cried, sending Kimiko and the others into another fit of giggles. I glared at them, willing them to shut-up. Surprisingly, they did! They still looked like they were laughing, but they made no sound. It was like someone pushed their MUTE buttons. They noticed and looked at me with weird expressions on their faces. I busted up laughing almost as hard as they had.

"Now THAT was funny!" I said between giggles. "I don't even know how I did that!"

"That was you?" Omi said. I hadn't realized that I stopped willing them to be quiet.

"Of course it was her!" my little robot squeaked. "Her powers are based on her will and imagination! If she wills you to be quiet, you can't make a noise. If she imagines a mango, she'll get a mango!" A mango dropped out of nowhere and into my hand.

"HEY!" I cried. Clay was laughing again. Raimundo reached over and snatched the mango and said, "I'll take that!" as he bit into it. "What? I've never had magic mango before!" he said when he saw the look on Kimiko's face.

"Now, I'm still your computer. I still have everything you ever recorded in me, and access to everything else. It's just that this is my mobile form. Just to let you know. You're the Traveler, which means that you'll have to take things in stride, even if it's sudden and weird, like this. You'll get used to it. So will your friends!" The robot turned and waved at them. They waved back, grinning like fools and still pushing back the giggles.

"Have fun, everybody!" Master Fong chuckled as he left the room.

"What? Wait! Where are you going?" I cried after him.

"I have already been told everything I need to hear. Fate has visited me as well, you know." He chuckled. I sighed.

"Well, this is as good a time as any to find out more about this stuff, I guess. So, tell us everything that we're gonna need to hear, uh, what's your name?"

"You must name me, Master."

"Okay, number one: Quit calling me Master. Number two: Why do **I** have to give you a name? Why can't you just pick one out for yourself? You've been gifted with awareness and you get free Internet, it should be easy to do!" I said. Jeeze, first Morgan, now this.

"That kind of defeats the purpose of being my Master then, doesn't it?" the little robot retorted. I sighed. What am I gonna do?

"Okay, I got one. Your name is Gidget." I crossed my arms and smiled. The name had just popped up in my head like Morgan's had.

"Uh, what kind of a name is that?" Clay asked.

"Well, it—she, I guess, is a computer, but alive, or aware, so I crossed Bridget and gadget together for her name. Why, what's wrong with it?"

"It's just weird." Omi put in.

"Omi, if you haven't noticed, pretty much everything about Melody is weird," Raimundo snickered. I frowned.

"Okay, enough. Go ahead Gidget. Tell us what we need to hear." I said, ignoring Raimundo's snide comment. Gidget sat down on the floor in front of me and I sat down in front of her.

"The first thing you need to know is you can't show anyone what their world was like in the movies, shows and books that you've seen and read. You're still allowed to view them yourself, but terrible things and drastic changes will take place if you allow others to view such things. You can show them _other_ worlds, just not their own.

"Another thing that you need to know is you may have nearly unlimited power and abilities here in this world, but in several others you may be rendered powerless. Some worlds are non-magical, therefore most of the time, when in those worlds, you are non-magical. You can lead a normal life, or do something amazing as a normal person.

"And then there are worlds when you won't even be human."

"_**WHAT?"**_ I shouted. "Not human? W-What—Well whadda ya mean 'not human'?"

"I mean, sometimes a Traveler is part of an 'alien' planet instead of a 'human' planet. Sometimes, a Traveler isn't a human, but an animal. This is because in whatever world you go to, you will always have a role, no matter what your role may be. For instance, your sole purpose in some worlds might just be to die. In such a case, it's usually to start someone else's story, or some sort of movement or activity. If you were an exotic and endangered animal, dying might prompt humans to look for a poacher in the area killing too many animals. It might start an awareness among humans to _do _something about it. If in one world your purpose was to die at the hands of a serial murderer, it might be just to bring that serial murderer to justice. If you had another purpose in that world, then you might be reborn into it.

"Which brings me to another subject. There will be plenty of worlds in which you are simply born. Your spirit and soul, as well as your mind and memories, are transferred to the womb of your new mother, and in doing so, your body will take form and you will be born into the world on some later day. Most of the time, when this happens, you will lead a 'normal' life, as you would put it, much like you would have done if you weren't the Traveler. But since you are, you'll just have to take things in stride and keep moving forward.

"Now, Fate has already told you that I will be a life-long companion. As true as that may be, it doesn't always mean that I will directly be with you. Which is why when we come to the worlds that won't allow us to reside in such a way, I live in your locket." Gidget pointed at the locket I wore. It still glowed slightly. It always seemed to glow, I noticed.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Your locket and I both keep your memories. That locket was made magically by your father with the purpose of not only keeping your memories, but your power and energy as well. It keeps life in you and it will protect your soul."

"My soul…?" I mumbled.

"Your father, when he made that locket, already knew some things about being the Traveler. Your personality will constantly be altered. In some worlds, you will be a force for evil instead of good. Your goal might be to destroy mankind or enslave the human race. Maybe you'll obliterate the entire planet in your quest for evil dominance." At this, Omi looked at me sternly.

"Your views and morals will always and constantly be challenged. You will do horrendous things. Kill a baby. Torture an innocent soul. Exist as an evil witch. Abuse your powers. Lie. Steal. Kill. Take over the world. Then, when you've done what you had to do and move on to the next world, at the time you might be thinking of doing it all again, forgetting who you are. But when you reach the next world, you'll be changed once more. Your father doesn't want you to beat yourself up over the things you'll have to do in the future. He's done vile things himself and has existed as a force for evil. Only by keeping track of his own memories and feelings and remembering his _true_ self was he ever able to live with the things that he had done. That locket was designed so that you may keep yourself and your soul safe and close to the real you. It serves to protect you from yourself. To protect you from the dark side of your heart."

Gidget's words reverberated in my head. _'To protect you from the dark side of your heart'_. Was she talking about Morgan? Does she have the ability to know my thoughts? Morgan is pretty much me, only altered. She _is_ the dark side of my heart. Will my locket protect me from her? When the time comes for us to truly be enemies, will I be able to stand up against her?

"When I _am_ allowed to be with you, I will almost always be in my former shape: a laptop. You'll be able to do all sorts of things with me around! You can find out exactly which world you are in and communicate with people from previous worlds. With each world that we enter, the Internet and various other networks of the world will be saved or 'added' to me, allowing you to not only keep in touch with various other worlds but also letting you communicate and do things online in the current world."

"That's amazing! It's like the ultimate network, with you being the base or headquarters of the entire thing," Kimiko explained. I understood her completely. Mainly, though, I thought about being able to contact my grandma. Maybe I could let the authorities know who murdered me. Fate _did_ say that I would be able to exact my revenge. But…

"It _is_ the 'ultimate network' as you put it Kimiko. However, Melody can't use it yet, not because she hasn't accumulated very many, but because she isn't allowed to contact her old home." Damn. _That _put a kink in my plans.

"Why not?" I pouted. Gidget smiled again and continued.

"Because Fate doesn't want you to have anything else to do with your birthplace any longer. Travelers are forever severed from their old life. Consider it this way: the Traveler gets two lives. Their first life is spent in peace and comfort. They are blissfully unaware of their roles and the tasks they must perform in the future. This is their small piece of happiness, a time that they can look upon fondly. It is their beginning, the construction zone of who they become. The first life is the base, the foundation, the source, the very starting point of the second. After they've taken their death, however, they are immediately introduced into their second life, in which they have at least 10,000 years to live. The second life is the Travelers' version of an 'afterlife'. Have you heard of the Egyptians?" I nodded yes. "Well, the Egyptians believed in the afterlife. One of your ancient ancestors was an Egyptian pharaoh, who was born into one of the many versions of Earth. This was before they held the belief in the afterlife."

"How does that have anything to do with me?" I asked.

"After journeying through various worlds as the Traveler, Fate allowed the former pharaoh to return to his original world, but only to inspire in his people knowledge of the afterlife that world ensue for them in their world. He went as a ghost, unseen by his people, excepting the priest, whom he visited in dreams." I was starting to get the picture. Waves of homesickness began to wash through me. I would probably never speak to Grandma again, let alone see her.

"So what you're saying is one of my ancestors was an Egyptian who taught his people about an afterlife that doesn't really exist—"

"In _your _world, anyway—"

"—and I'm actually living a second life 'cos I'm _dead_—"

"—metaphorically speaking—"

"—and now I'm supposed to live and die for _10,000 years_—"

"—technically, it's only one life—"

"—traveling from world to world, playing a game of good and evil,—"

"—I don't really think it's a game—"

"—having my heart cut from my chest, leaving behind the people I'll love—"

"—you can keep in touch—"

"—and never having another moment's peace so long as I'll freaking live?" I ignored the comments Gidget was making and my voice rose ever higher with each interruption, until I was red in the face and almost screaming. I felt hot angry tears stinging my eyes and I blinked at them furiously.

"DON'T YOU GET IT? I'm never going to live a normal life! I was never normal to begin with! I don't want to be the Traveler, I'm just a kid, I don't know anything! I want my mom back, and my dad, and my grandma! All I ever wanted was my family, why do I have to suffer like this? I can't do it, I can't! I'm just a kid…" I broke down sobbing when the reality hit me. I was never going back. I'm dead, and time will just move on without me, without recognizing my pain, my suffering. Grandma, I was never going to see my Grandma again, never.

Raimundo and the others looked stunned. They hadn't expected this sudden turn of events. Omi reached over and patted my shoulder. I knew that he'd understand, at least a little. He was an orphan too; either his parents were dead, or worse, they abandoned him.

"I just wanted a normal life…I didn't ask for this." Gidget stood up and peered into my face.

"Get a hold of yourself, Melody. There are worse things to come. Crying won't help anything; you'll just upset other people. You are the Traveler now. You must be strong and learn to forget about your past. It will do you no good. This is who you are and there's nothing you can do about it." She said sternly. I glared at her.

"I think we've heard enough about this Traveler business, for now. Let's leave it at that, and dry up your tears." Raimundo said. Clay pulled out a hanky and I wiped my eyes.

"How about we do some training together?" Kimiko suggested. From the corner of my eye, I saw Raimundo give her a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Come on, let's go outside, Melody." Raimundo helped me up off the floor and guided me to the door. They must think I'm fragile. I imagine I might think so too if I watched someone who was fine one moment burst into tears the next. I've got to get a hold of myself, like Gidget said. Speaking of which, were did she go? I looked around and saw that she had transformed back into my laptop.

We walked outside and met Dojo. He saw the look on my face and guessed what happened.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it? I think I know what'll cheer you up. Go ahead, climb on." Dojo had shifted into his bigger form and smiles broke all around. I blanched.

"Oh, no no no no no. I can't. I just can't." I said.

"Aw come on! There's nothing to be afraid of! Dojo is an expert flyer." Kimiko said. I shook my head violently back and forth. There is NO way I am going flying. But Raimundo grabbed my hand, and dragged me forward. He hopped on and helped me as I clambered onto Dojo's back and sat in front of Raimundo. Clay sat in front of me and Kimiko in front of him. Omi was behind us.

I'm not sure I'll be able to stay in place while Dojo's moving. Raimundo must have sensed that, because he said, "It'll help you feel better if you lean forward a bit and keep your hands on his back to steady yourself. You'll get the hang of flying eventually." My eyes widened. Out of all the things that Grandma had put me through, flying was NOT one of them. She was terrified of heights and couldn't stand the thought of me thousands of feet in the air. Her fear had rubbed off on me too.

Dojo lurched forward and I gasped. Dojo's body moved underneath me, rising up and falling down, moving like a wave. It moved me with it. I began to wobble and I squeezed my eyes shut. The wind was in my face and my hair was flying behind me. Air whistled past my ears and I was acutely aware of the nothingness under my dangling feet. My stomach clenched and I shivered.

"You can open your eyes now, Mel." Clay said, amused. Slowly, I opened one eye and peaked. Clay had turned somewhat around to face me and was watching me squirm, an amused expression on his face. I dared to open my other eye.

"There, that's better now. Look over the side. You can see the whole temple." My eyes grew wide again and I shook my head vigorously no. I kept my eyes focused on Clay to keep my eyes from straying down.

"We're not goin' back until you get a good look at everything!" Dojo taunted. Unconsciously, my eyes slid from Clay's face to Dojo's enormous green head, which was twisted around looking at us. My hands tensed on his scales. _Calm down, there's nothing to worry about, _I told myself. _Just glance down real quick and get it over with so you can stand on solid ground again._ Instead, my eyes screwed up again. _No, don't do that! Just look over the side! How hard is that?_

Slowly, gathering my wits about me, I took a deep breath, opened my eyes again, and looked down over the side of Dojo's right flank. The temple grounds were spread out before me, white-walled buildings with blue tiled roofs trimmed in gold organized within a neat, square wall. The main Temple stood in the center and all of the monks looked like tiny ants. We were flying high above the grounds in a wide circle. Dojo wasn't paying any attention to where he was going; he obviously knew where he was and it was unlikely that something would come across his path. The trees surrounding the square wall looked tightly grouped together, like a bouquet of flowers, or more accurately, a bunch of broccoli. I briefly forgot how high I was and I lifted my right hand up to brush a strand of silver-blonde hair behind my ear.

When I noticed what I did, I yelped and grasped the back of Dojo once more. They all laughed. I couldn't stop staring, though. I had never seen anything from this high up. My heart beat calmly in my chest and my breathing was normal again. I had stopped panicking and realized that the wind in my face felt good. I hadn't felt this kind of calm before in my life. I had never felt more at ease.

"Well, what do you think?" Raimundo asked.

"Wow…" I breathed. I risked turning around and looked back at Raimundo. He was smiling at me. Behind him, Omi was beaming from ear to ear and I found it highly contagious, as I was soon bearing the same kind of smile.

"This is amazing!" I laughed. Still grinning like a fool, I leaned over again and peered over the edge of Dojo.

"There's Master Fong! He's looking up in the sky, watching us." I felt warmth at the thought of my new master, but a cold unease started to settle in my stomach. A cloud passed over the sun.

Dojo drifted down to the ground. I clambered off, with a little help from Raimundo. The others were patting me on the back. I was new to this and they consider flying Dojo to be like an initiation. We'll have to ride Dojo to get to Wu.

Master Fong brings up the topic of 'business' again. Gidget was in her robot form again, waiting for us when we came back. However, I didn't expect that Master Fong would bring up _their _business, not mine. My mind was still preoccupied with everything that Gidget told me.

"Melody, do you know of Shen-Gong-Wu?" I nodded. "Then come. There is much to discuss." Master Fong turned and led the way into the Temple. I glanced at Raimundo, who shrugged, and Kimiko, who said, "Let's just follow him."

When we were all settled in a circle on the matted floor, Master Fong began speaking.

"Melody, you know that your father was Grand Master Dashi. He is the one who founded this temple and the one who created the Shen-Gong-Wu. This is what I must speak to you about. Shen-Gong-Wu are magical artifacts that have been scattered across the globe. I understand that you already know this. In fact, you are the most knowledgeable on where the Shen-Gong-Wu may be. But you are also knowledgeable of our opponents." Master Fong began to pace. "I assume that since you know of the Wu, you know of the scroll, do you not?"

"Yes, Master, I do," I replied.

"Good. And our enemies?"

"Jack Spicer, Wuya, Hannibal Bean, and Chase Young," Master Fong stopped in his tracks, his back to me.

"What did you say?" he asked slowly. The other warriors were extremely quiet as they listened intently.

"Jack Spicer, Wuya, Hannibal Bean, and Chase Young," I repeated.

He spun around and said, "Explain who they are, in detail."

Taken aback, I complied.

"Hannibal Roy Bean is an evil bean trapped in the Yin-Yang world. He is devious and he uses whatever he can to get what he wants. He's partnered up with the Yin-Yang Bird. He's really tiny, so he rides the bird, but he's also super strong, especially if he gets the **Moby Morpher** to make himself big. He is responsible for Chase Young's condition." Master Fong nodded.

"Now who is Chase Young?"

Omi's hand shot straight up in the air, and he waved it back and forth, wiggling around and pleading, "OO! OO! ME! ME!" Master Fong ignored him and signaled for me to continue.

"Chase Young is a young, good-looking man. He's covered head to foot in black, greed, and gold armor, has long, black hair that glows kinda green, amber eyes that look like a cat, and pointed ears. On the outside, he mostly resembles a strong young warrior. But that's not his true form. In his true form, he is a scaly, green lizard/Dragon the size of a man. He is faster, stronger, and deadlier as a reptile than a human being. He looks much like a crocodile and he can use his tail as an extra weapon. He does what he wants, when he wants, and he'll go through any means necessary to get it, but he doesn't bother much with the rest of the world, except when something takes his interest. He's cunning, and he'll resort to clever tactics and brutal methods. He's honorable, evil though he may be. If he gives his word, he keeps it. He was once a great man, before Hannibal turned him evil and gave his soul to the Devil."

"That's not all, though, is it?" Master Fong said. I dipped my head. My hand found my arm.

"No. Chase Young was one of my father's apprentices." I felt the shock ripple through my friends and I continued. "He helped defeat Wuya and trap her in the puzzle box, 1500 years ago. Sometime afterwards, though, Hannibal Bean caught up with him. Hannibal knew about Chase's ambition to be the strongest warrior alive. He offered the only way it could be done. He gave Chase the choice between staying as he was, or drinking Lao Mang Long Soup. Chase drank it and become that evil lizard monster. And he became immortal, as well." Solemnly, I thought of Chase Young's fate. Such a shame. And my father had trusted him!

"What do you mean, immortal?" Kimiko questioned.

"I mean that he cannot be killed. He can be stopped and trapped and you can lock him up, but he won't die. At least, not as long as he has his Lao Mang Long Soup. As long as he keeps drinking that, he'll continue to live and be young. He's hasn't aged a day since he took his first sip of that accursed potion. It's impossible to even scratch him, let alone draw blood. He's too skilled. He won't die until the Devil wants him to, and the Devil doesn't want him to, otherwise, he would've collected the debt already. Unless the only dept is Chase's actual soul; then He already has what he wants. He won't touch Chase."

Blood pounded in my ears and bitterness leaked into my words; it was faint, but I could sense Morgan fueling the fire of this train of thought. I mentally pinched Morgan. I didn't want this turning into a thing. I heard her sigh and the fire faded away.

"Master Fong, why are you having Melody say these things?" Omi asked.

"Because, Omi, of the things that Melody cannot do, telling us who our enemies are is not one of them. We need to know who we're dealing with, now and later. Go on Melody, tell us about Jack and Wuya." Master Fong was looking at me again.

"Jack Spicer: Evil Boy Genius. Flaming red hair, Gothic clothes, ambitious teenager. In the series that I watched, he was as dimwitted as could be. He was funny, his sarcasm and random acts of idiocy were big hits. He was a favorite in my old world. He had fans everywhere. But here in this world, I don't know. Things could be different. I've found a few things already that are different than what I knew. Here's the things that I know for sure. Jack isn't entirely evil, and he's not entirely good. Like he's balanced on the precipice between the two.

"He was displayed as an obnoxious, annoying, and extremely spoiled boy, someone who definitely wasn't cut out for a life of evil, and yet he succeeded in many of his endeavors. He's someone that you can't trust, no matter what. He's an evil teenager, you can't really expect him to be honorable or play fair. At least with Chase Young, if he says you're safe, you're safe, and if he's temporarily on your side, you can trust him to see the truce out to the end. Jack isn't like that. More than likely Jack will stab you in the back the first chance he gets. If you strike a bargain of any kind, you'll have to make sure he completes his end of it first, because he won't do anything for you if he already has what he wants.

"However, he's eager to please. He's a Mamma's Boy; he's been coddled his whole life. Though, his grandmother is the main reason he's taken to the life he's in now. He wants to please his mother and father, he wants to please potential friends, and he wants to please potential allies. He also wants to impress them. In fact, a lot of stupid stunts could have been prevented if Jack spent less time trying to look cool and more time focusing at what's at hand. He's weak in some ways, but strong in others. His main strength is in robotics and machinery. He built most of his gadgets and he's an avid inventor. If he decided to sell his gadgets and technology, he'd be even more rich than he already is. His weak points, though, are that he's not very brave. He can't stand up to pain or embarrassment. He whines and cries and he gets scared easily. Spiders, snakes, ghosts… the dark; he still sleeps with a nightlight. But lame as he is, he is very agile. He's fast, precise, and on a good day for him, it'll fairly sting if he hits you. Maybe even knock you out. Although it's easy to, don't under-estimate him.

"Wuya, on the other hand, is hard to place. Right now, she's a ghost, but she's deadly powerful in the flesh. Don't bar her from being a threat right now, though. As a ghost, she can possess living bodies that have weak will-power. That's what she wants the most right now: a body she can possess and enough power at hand that she can be a formidable foe immediately after. A little known fact is that she can shrink down to smaller than Hannibal Bean and creep into your skull and read your thoughts. She can pick through your memories and go through your weaknesses and strengths. No secret is safe from her. Everything you know, _she'll_ know. The good part is, she can't do this until she shrinks down to the right size, and even then, you'll have to be held down while she goes through your ear." I pause. I can see them squirming around me, can almost hear their brains wondering, _who will this happen to? She has to know this from watching that show, so who will have to go through all these things?_

"And also," I said. "She can sense Shen-Gong-Wu, as well. Wuya will partner up with anyone who is capable of retrieving Wu for her. Depending on what Wu she has in particular, she may have a fearsome minion, a substitute body, or even her _own_ body, magical powers and all. Wuya's power will take over the Earth and she will be the ruler. After that, it will be very difficult dethroning her.

"Wuya in her natural state is very strong. She won't care anymore about the Wu because she'll have no need of it. That's good, but Shen-Gong-Wu will have almost no effect on her. I don't know much else about her other than she's very beautiful in the flesh and therefore very deceitful." At this, the guys snorted and guffawed. Dojo, Kimiko, Master Fong and I were the only ones not laughing, although Kimiko was red in the face from holding back giggles. Dojo shook his head at them.

"Yeah right! Hwoo! Wuya, beautiful… What a joke!" Raimundo said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I gotta agree with Raimundo on this one. I can't imagine Wuya as anything but an ugly old hag in her human form!" Clay chuckled. Omi was still rolling on the floor laughing.

Suddenly, my eyes burned and stung, then everything was bathed in bright blue light. I heard a collective gasp from everyone as the laughter was abruptly cut short. In my mind's eye, I could see a movie reel being played. It was a clip from an episode of Xiaolin Showdown.

The action-suspense music was playing extremely loud, like someone plugged in a pair of loud speakers to my head. Wuya's voice shouted above it all as she floated in front of a small, rectangular mirror, _**"REVERSING MIRROR!"**_ In a great flash of green light, everything disappeared. The picture suddenly came back, and I saw a tall figure outlined in green flames standing where Wuya had just floated before. It was curvy: a woman's body. Long, wavy red hair flowed down the woman's back. Just above her forehead, she had a widow's peak. A long, flowing, deep purple and red dress hung off the woman's curves, trailing lithely and curling at their ends. The long sleeves were curled the same way. There was a mask, upon the woman's face. It was a pale white mask, with empty black holes for eyes, a long, beaky, red nose, and a hideous, toothy grin. The woman lifted her arms and with long tapered fingers, she gently lifted the mask off her face. Elfish ears poked out of her head. Emerald green eyes stared gleefully at us from underneath long, graceful lashes. A petite nose protruded from her face and a slight smile curled at the corners of her crimson lips. In the background, I heard someone say, "Wuya?" Wuya's smile grew as she parted her lips, revealing perfect pointy teeth, and replied in a wicked voice, "In the flesh."

When I blinked, the vision was gone, and sudden fatigue overtook me; I fell backwards, drained. A pair of warm hands caught me before I could crumple on the floor. my eyes stared lazily ahead as Raimundo looked down and said something I couldn't hear. My eyes drifted shut and I blacked out.

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**Okay, I hope you've enjoyed! Lots of background regarding the Traveler business. This story is my own and Melody, Morgan, and Gidget are mine. I do NOT own Xialoin Showdown, and if I did, I wouldn't have put it on Nick, cos Nick is gay like that. And it would still be playing over and over, like Avatar: Last Airbender. Review!**


	15. Chapter 13

**Hey, everyone! I'm ba~ack! AND ON TIME TOO! cool. So, yeah, I don't own Xiaolin showdown, and I'm glad I don't, but I wish it was still on-air. so continuing from where we left off, here's the next chapter! WARNING: there are lyrics, and also a wordless song, so if you want to get the full feeling of the story, you can google Change by Taylor Swift and Clair de Lune and listen to them. It would make it easier to understand the way Raimundo describes Clair de Lune if you listen to it. So, read and review! (Also, a little bit of horror near the end of this chapter.)**

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Chapter 13

Raimundo

The image of Wuya burned brightly from Melody's eyes, which were glowing bright blue again as they projected the vision into the room. When it ended, Melody began to fall backwards. I caught her just before she hit the floor. The glow was gone from her eyes and she fell asleep right there. My heart lurched.

"She's asleep," I said looking up. Master Fong had come to kneel beside me. Gidget spoke up.

"She's used up magical energy; energy she's not supposed to have yet. I'm not surprised she fell asleep right away." She said standing up.

"Was that really Wuya we saw?" Kimiko asked. Gidget nodded her head.

"This is bad. It was the Wuya portrayed in Melody's original world, right? That's why it was a cartoon. She must have come back at some point in the series!" Omi exclaimed.

"What I don't understand is why she showed it to us if we're not allowed to see it," Clay wondered aloud.

"It doesn't matter, anyway. Melody only showed you what Wuya would look like _if _she was resurrected and returned to her natural state. She didn't break any rules, not that there's many to break. And just because it happened in the show in her original world doesn't mean it'll happen here. Hopefully, it won't. That's the whole point of the Traveler: to change the events that happen in a world." Gidget walked carefully to Melody and touched her forehead with one metal finger. Melody's eyes fluttered open.

"What happened?" she asked. She sat up slowly, holding her head in one hand. She looked around and seemed to change her mind.

"Never mind, I don't want to know right now. Let's just carry on with what we were talking about before we saw Wuya."

Master Fong nodded in agreement. I let go of her as she stood up, still holding her head. Anxiety filled me as I realized how hard it must be for her. When I was named as a Chosen One, weird stuff like this didn't start happening to me. I didn't have to change like Melody. And I never had to keep stumbling around. She was still just a normal kid in many ways. _She'll get used to it eventually,_ I thought.

"Alright, back to what I was saying. Wuya is a dangerous foe to come up against when she has her powers. But right now, we have nothing to worry about. Our main concern is Jack. He will repeatedly hire help to try to get the Wu first. One of them is—GACK!" Melody choked, clutching her throat. She tried to say the word again, but her throat only uttered a pitiful rasp.

"You're not allowed to tell them that. There's only so much they're supposed to know," Gidget quipped. Melody only frowned. Master Fong said, "I think we're done talking for now. Fate has made it clear we shouldn't question any you further." Melody only nodded.

We got up and left. Melody said that she wanted to see the garden. We all went. Clay and I started a game of soccer while Kimiko and Omi played Goo-Zombies 2. In an effort to include Melody, I offered to have her play on my team. Kimiko opted to have Melody play Goo-Zombies with her. Melody refused us both and instead sat underneath a tree to think. The forlorn expression on her face disturbed me.

I put her out of my mind while I played soccer with Clay. I didn't need any distractions. I narrowly missed the field goal when my heart gave a lurch and Melody's voice reached my ears. I chanced a glance in her direction.

She was humming a song to herself, while she weaved strands of grass into a bracelet. It sounded mournful, yet hopeful and happy at the same time. It was careful and soft, but each echoing note gradually grew faster and louder. Her voice quickly danced and stepped in circles and swirled in the air, spinning softly around. I was reminded of watching young children playing together and dancing and listening to their laughter. As the song rose and fell, I felt her mood lighten, and then the notes grew soft and slow again, only to cascade at the end like a trickling waterfall. I never knew someone's voice could do that.

"What are you singing, Melody?" Kimiko asked. The notes died away and Melody looked sheepishly at Kimiko.

"In my world, it's called Clair De Lune. It sounds better when I play it on a piano, though. That's how it's supposed to be played."

Clay and I abandoned our game and sat next to Melody.

"You sing well, Melody," Omi praised. "Sing another song!" Melody looked at us warily for a second, then conceded, "I don't sing as well without the music."

"Hold on a second, and I'll be right back," Clay said, getting up. We stared after him, puzzled, until he walked back carrying a guitar. Now, I could come up with a million stereotypical jokes about a cowboy having a guitar, but the happy look on Melody's face stopped me from saying anything.

"Thanks, Clay!" she said grinning. "I know a good song from home. It was sung by a girl name Taylor Swift, and it's called 'Change'. It's a good song for getting your spirit up."

Melody placed her fingers expertly over the strings and strummed, producing a nice, hearty sound from the guitar. She began playing, and then she started singing along, after a nice intro.

_And it's a sad picture_

_The final blow hits you_

_Somebody else gets what you wanted_

_It can't end_

_You know it's all the same_

_Another time and place_

_Repeating history and_

_You're getting sick of it_

_But I believe in whatever you do_

_And I'll do anything to see it through_

_Because these things will change!_

_Can you feel it now?_

_These walls that they put up_

_To hold us back will_

_Fall down_

_This revolution_

_The time will come_

_For us to finally win_

_And we'll sing hallelujah!_

_We'll sing hallelujah!_

_Oh…_

_So we've been outnumbered_

_Raided and now cornered_

_It's hard to fight_

_When the fight_

_Ain't fair_

_We're getting stronger now!_

_Found things they never found_

_They might be bigger_

_But we're faster and_

_Never scared_

_We can walk away_

_Say we don't need this…_

_But there's something in your eyes_

_Says we can beat this!_

'_cos these things will change_

_Can you feel it now?_

_These walls that they put up_

_To hold us back will_

_Fall down_

_This revolution_

_The time will come_

_For us to finally win_

_And we'll sing hallelujah!_

_We'll sing hallelujah!_

_Oh…_

Melody began a short solo, strumming the guitar with a fierce determination, as if she wanted to strike inspiration into the very air around her. Her eyes were closed and a smile played at the corner of her lips. Her fingers plucked out the chords and she began singing again, her voice mixing beautifully with the music.

_And tonight we'll stand_

_And get off our knees_

_Fight for what we've_

_Worked for all these years_

_And the battle was long_

_It's the fight of our lives!_

_But we'll stand up_

_Champions tonight_

_It was the night things changed_

_Can you see it now?_

_These walls that they_

_put up to hold us back_

_Fell down!_

_It was a revolution!_

_The time has come_

_And we never gave in!_

_And we sang hallelujah!_

_We sang hallelujah!_

_Hallelujah!_

As Melody finished strumming the last of the chords, we burst into applause. Melody finally looked up as she rested her hands on top of the instrument, a proud, beaming smile on her face. We finally found what made her happy, and we spent the next few hours asking her to sing to us. When we finally went inside and ate dinner, we chatted happily amongst ourselves, each humming parts of the various songs she played us.

"Hey, um, where am I gonna sleep?" Melody asked. I looked up, surprised. We'd forgotten all about sleeping arrangements. Luckily, Master Fong hadn't. He led Melody to her room. It wasn't the room where she had stayed before, but Master Fong had had her bed moved into it. It was in one of the empty stall-like rooms that the rest of us stayed in.

When it was time to go to bed, we each went respectively to our own rooms, closed the curtains, and changed into pajamas. I found Melody standing in the hallway, looking awkward.

"Uh, Melody? What's wrong?" I asked. She looked at me and said, "I don't have any clothes, remember?" Oh, yeah. But a second later, Melody looked down at herself surprised, as yet another phenomenon occurred before our eyes.

Melody's clothes shimmered, then glowed brightly. For one moment, I couldn't see. Then in the next, left in the wake of misty white swirls and faint images of flower blossoms drifting down, Melody was in new clothes.

"What happened?" Kimiko asked. She had walked into the hall after the blinding flash, and now she looked at Melody with questions in her eyes.

Melody now stood in the hallway wearing simple, white pajamas. She wore a neat, plain, long-sleeved button-up shirt with pockets over both breasts and a simple collar opened at her neck. She wore plain, straight, white slacks that looked a tad long on her, as her feet barely poked out from underneath. On the right pocket of her shirt facing me, her name was embroidered in the white material in gold thread. The jewelry was gone, except her locket, and Melody held her hands up to her face and was staring at them with wonder.

I heard clanking and turned to see Gidget walking to us. Melody didn't even spare her a glance.

"Explain," she said stiffly.

"The clothes you wear are all the same material. It changes according to your needs and your preferences. In time, you may be able to control exactly what you wear, although changing the color will be extremely difficult. You can't get rid of it; it's embedded into your skin. It's part of you, and finely attuned to your needs. Since you needed pajamas, that's what it turned into." Gidget explained. Melody answered.

"What happens when I need to bathe?"

"It retreats into your skin, although it won't seem like it. It's hard to explain."

"Anything else I need to know about it?"

"If you rip parts of it off, you won't be injured and the cloth regenerates quickly. It's attuned to your movements as well, so it won't get in the way when you're fighting, and if you train hard enough with it, you might be able to turn it into a weapon. As it is, it's a shield; it protects you. It's magical, so it's fire-proof, heat-proof, water-proof, stain-proof, and lecher-proof." Gidget supplied. Kimiko snorted; "Lecher-proof, she says…" and she wandered off again.

Melody smiled at the last comment. She said, "Thank you," and went into her own room. I shrugged and walked back to mine.

* * *

Melody

I went to my new room and climbed into my bed. The beautifully patterned blanket shimmered like it was made of silk. It was warm, though. The cushions in my bed let me sink into them and, swaddled in my blanket, I settled down to sleep. But I didn't. At least, it doesn't seem like I did. I closed my eyes for a brief second, and when they opened again, I was lying down across a velvet couch. I sat up and looked around.

The scarlet walls gleamed and the red-black floor reflected the glowing sconces on the walls. The familiar colors told me I was once again in Morgan's world and sure enough, I found myself looking across the room to find Morgan seated on her throne.

"Welcome back," she said softly. She stood up and walked across the carpet towards me. She was dressed the same, but the feeling around her was dark and sinister. I sensed that she had embraced her evil nature and I wondered what she would do to me.

"My dear sister, I don't plan on doing anything with you. I merely wish for your company here in this dark and desolate place. Although I won't need it once I have a few souls to decorate the place."

Damn, I forgot she could read my mind. But what was that about the souls? Morgan didn't answer my thoughts. I asked the question, "What do you plan to do with souls?" and she answered, "I plan to kill them, of course. I will torture them and hurt them. I will make them feel the worst moments of their feeble lives over and over and over again, until their minds shatter. I will drink their blood and eat their flesh and I will become stronger. And when their bodies are spent, I will start all over again with their souls."

I stared with horror at what she described. Was she planning on turning into a demon? She chuckled.

"I would be careful with my emotions if I were you, sis. Remember, I feed on emotions as well as pain and suffering." I shuddered.

"Why?" I asked her. "Why would you do that?" She appeared to think for a moment.

"Because that's the way I was born to live. It is my nature. And I like it. But don't worry. If I save enough souls, you won't have to keep me company. I'll have servants and subjects. I think I might even take a liking to a few lucky souls and they'll be my friends. Isn't it grand?"

_No,_ I thought. _That's terrible. I can't allow you to do that._ Morgan laughed again and fixed me with a cold stare. _You won't be able to stop me if I get loose. When I am free to run amok, I will take over your body and rule the world. I'll get rid of the forces of good first, then turn my hunger towards those villains. At least then there'd be no evil left in the world besides me. I might have to hibernate a few years to let it grow back._ Morgan's voice resounded in my head as she stared at me with her blood-red eyes. Her grim smile grew as I watched my horror _flow_ _out of my body_ and down Morgan's throat.

Behind her, there sounded a tinny pop, then a thermometer appeared. Except, according to Morgan, it wasn't a thermometer. Morgan gestured to it and said, "This meter will show the amount of power that I have obtained. When I reach my goal, I will take your body by force."

I had to struggle to keep calm. My new sister was planning on harvesting my power and using it to take control of me! I was scared. I had a slight sense of the power that Morgan could wield and I didn't want her to hurt my friends. I would have to stop her by any means necessary.

"Pfft. Whatever. It's not like you can stop me anyway. So go ahead and try. Get up, have some fun, mill about, I don't care what you do in my world." Morgan waved her hands dismissively and turned her back. Confused, stood up.

"Why do you have to do this, Morgan? You're your own person, you decide what you do, so don't give me this 'it's what I was born to do' crap." Morgan spun around and snarled, "Weren't you listening? I said I'm _evil_. There's no changing that, anymore than you can change Chase Young or Wuya to good. I _like_ being evil, so enjoy your freedom while it lasts, because it's not gonna last much longer." I stepped back, unnerved by her sudden ferocity. Morgan waved her arm and I was gone from her room, flying backwards past the door and down the long path outside. I passed rows and rows of trees, many brimming with birds, and straight through an open door and I was tossed to the ground, the door slamming shut behind me. I propped myself up on my elbows.

I was back in the Dark Woods, in the clearing of the Dark Oak. The acorns above me glowed faintly, like Morgan was sucking out the energy in them as well. I decided to pick one.

The moment my fingers touched it, it glowed brightly again. I gasped as I felt it suck in a tiny amount of energy. Then the acorn dropped into my hand. In glowed with a gold light, now, instead of a red light. A tiny voice inside me said, _It absorbs energy. I bet if we store energy in them, then we might be able to use that energy later!_ Then my voice of reason said, _You idiot! It won't work that way! It only took a small amount of energy. We'd have to fill a million of these to get anything back! And besides, I wouldn't trust anything on this tree. It's the door to __Morgan__'s world!_ I clenched my fist over the glowing acorn. Looking up, I decided that I had to get out of the Dark Woods. I was reborn; my world should be ready by now.

As I walked through the woods, however, I found that shadows now flitted in the misty fog and between the trees. Arms wrapped tightly around my chest, my eyes wide with terror, I stumbled along, staring at the faceless corpses that were strung overhead in the trees, and the faint rustlings of hidden creatures, who I'm sure knew their way well in the Woods. I began to reflect back on all my fears but I stopped myself and shuddered. I didn't want any of these things to pop up out of nowhere and scare me. I guess that when I was reborn, the Wood was automatically filled with everything I feared.

A shadow darted in the corner of my eye. I jerked around, looking for it. I would feel much safer if I could see what I was hearing and know where it was at all times. It would be uncomfortable and scary, but I was terrified with not knowing who or what or where the things were.

_Drip._ Something cold dripped on my forehead. I reached up and touched the spot of cold, then brought my hand level with my eyes and I looked at the blackish-red liquid staining my fingers. _Blood._ My breathing grew harsh and shallow and I slowly tipped my head back, dreading what I knew I would see when I looked up. I had the keep pushing down the screams that threatened to burst out of my throat as my eyes slowly slid up above my head.

_I was standing directly underneath one of the corpses._ The screams welled up inside me as I watched the blood ooze out and trickle steadily down the faceless body. There was a gash across the body's face, slit diagonally down from left to right. It's hands were tied above its head and both wrists were cut. The hands were twitching, the head bobbing, and the feet, oh the feet, they dangled haphazardly above my head, as if someone had just hung it from the tree.

My eyes wide with horror, I stumbled backwards and tripped over a root. The body convulsed and jerked, rubbing the rope burns deeper into the gray flesh of its wrists. Then, I heard some crackling, and then a great snap. The branch that the corpse hung on had broken clean off the tree and now both fell to the ground.

The ropes were loosened. As the corpse stood up, the ropes that had bound its hands together fell off. The gashed face turned towards me and the corpse took a step. A low keening began in me. I was frozen; I couldn't move for the fear.

The corpse took another shuffling step in my direction. And another… and another…and another… and then…

The gash across it's empty face grew wider and it curved up, and sharp, jagged teeth protruded from it. Wet globs of sticky saliva dripped down and I let out the screams I'd been holding in. The corpse shambled closer. I was scrabbling backwards, shrieking, and I tried to find the courage to turn away and _run!_ But I couldn't. I was stuck with this nightmare and it moaned in eagerness.

I finally managed to get up and turn around, but as soon as I tried to take the first step in my attempt to run, I found myself flat on the ground with the wind knocked out of me.

"Oof!" I yelped. I turned over and saw what tripped me. A knarled root had wrapped itself around my ankles. It burrowed into the ground, intending to drag me along with it. I don't know which of my fears were greater. Mauled by a terrifying undead corpse or buried alive by a tree root?

In seconds, the root had pulled me waist deep in the moldering, gray dirt as I struggled and scratched the ground with my fingernails, trying to get out. The corpse was closing in. _THUD!_ I swung my head away from the corpse and saw that another of the bodies had fallen away from a branch, this time, without taking the branch with it. I looked up. _ALL_ of the bodies in the Dark Wood were twitching and bleeding and they flounder around like fish out of water. _Thud thud thudthudthudthudthud!_ One by one, they fell to the ground, picked themselves up, and shambled in my direction.

Another root reached up and tangled itself around my wrist. As much as I jerked and struggled, I couldn't pull free of its grasp. The root that was pulling me under was forcing me to hold my arms above my head, like I was wading in deep water. Only, this isn't water. I'm up to my chest… now my shoulders… now my neck! I screamed and got mouthfuls of dirt.

The bodies were upon me now. The one with the gashed mouth was grinning at me and they were all reaching down. They pulled at my hair and grabbed at my arms! The roots were pulling me down and the bodies had less and less hold on me. I can't breathe!

Suddenly, my eyes were filled with sunlight. I gasped and sat up. The glowing light filtered through a small window I hadn't noticed before above my bed. Dust motes floated lazily through the air.

"It was just a dream," I muttered to myself. "Just a dream. It wasn't real." Then I caught a brief vision. Morgan was standing in front of the power meter, a smug expression on her face. The meter, which had been empty earlier, was now one tenth of the way filled up. As I looked on, Morgan spoke. She was talking to herself.

"That was a pretty good scare! It produced more power than I expected. At this rate, all I need to do is torture poor Melody like this every night for ten nights straight, and I'll have all the power I need!" Morgan chuckled.

The vision faded. I climbed out of bed. I'll have to find a way to stop Morgan. I don't know how I'll do it, but I will.

I was a little disoriented, at first, because the whole nightmare only seemed to be an hour long, but it was daylight now.

As I climbed out of bed, my pajamas changed back into the same clothes I wore yesterday. That's something that I'll have to work on. Gidget said that if I worked hard at it, I'll be able to control what I wear.

My stomach growled as I walked down the hall and into the dining room. The four Dragons were there, as well as Dojo. There were smiles all around and I sat down to grab me some breakfast.

Raimundo passed me some milk and I poured it over my cereal. I looked at the box while I chewed. Gemmellows. What kind of name is that for a box of cereal? Kimiko saw the look on my face.

"What's wrong?" I shook my head and swallowed. The cereal had freeze-dried marshmallows shaped like jewels and regular cereal pieces that looked suspiciously like Cheerios.

"The cereal is named Gemmellows. It looks like a cross between Cheerios and Lucky Charms." Weird looks from the peanut gallery.

"They're popular cereals in my old world. Don't worry about it," I said, waving my hand dismissively.

After I ate my fill, I walked outside to breathe in fresh air. It just occurred to me that I was in China. I stood outside on the porch, stretched my arms above my head, and took a deep breath. No one followed me as I made my way to the garden. I tried not to dwell on my nightmare. Wildflowers were blooming and the grass was green. The leaves swayed in the morning breeze, already warmed by the sun. I didn't even care that I was only half-dressed! I stopped walking when I was under the shady leaves of the tree I sat beneath yesterday. I sat down again and hummed softly to myself.

"GOTCHA!" someone shouted. That someone dropped on top of me, and I felt a bag being pulled over my head, blocking my view of the garden and the sky. I shrieked and struggled until something hard bashed my skull. I fell to the ground and felt someone pin me. _What do I do? What do I do?_ I thought franticly. I struggled to remember my RAD classes. Ok, first, I'm stuck on my stomach. Throw your head back… my head connected with whoever was on top of me and they yelped. Alright, if you can manage it, elbow them in the ribcage… I still couldn't move my arms. They were pinned to my chest, and I was still in the sac. Ok, ok, umm… oh! My legs! They're poking out. Let's see if I can kick whoever it is that's on me!

Kicking both my legs rocked me back and forth, and twice, I clipped my attacker with a heel. If only I were wearing shoes! They'd hurt more. I bucked some more and managed to free an arm and I was able to push myself up a little and free my other one, but my attacker threw his weight down on me and knocked the breath out of me. He hooked his legs around mine to keep them still. I could barely move!

My nightmare came on again, full force, and with a shriek of rage, I freed a leg and kicked backwards. I felt the hard bone of my heel collide with my attacker's skull. A small victory, but one with a price. Once again, something hard smashed into the base of my skull, and the dark claimed me once again.

* * *

**Aaaaaaand there we go! Review please! And stay tuned! Love y'all!**


	16. Chapter 14

**Hello again! It is moi, returning with great news! Summer is almost upon us! A few more days, and then summer bliss. I can almost feel it. Anyway, I know I'm a rotten little stinker for leaving this where it was for the time I did, so I'm updating a few chapters all at once! Also, I have 5 chapters of my upcoming JackxLeMime fanfic written down; all I gotta do is type it all up and post. And I'm working on another project too. But read this chapter first, and I'll say more afterwards. R&R!**

* * *

Chapter 14

Jack Spicer

I watched through my binoculars as a beautiful girl walked outside on the porch of the temple. She had long, silver-blonde hair, almost gossamer, and it lay down her back, shimmery and straight, almost to her knees. She was wearing a fancy white tube-top that showed off her arms, shoulders, a little tummy, and just barely the tops of her cleavage. She could make any guy drool. She also wore a long slitted skirt that showed off her legs and thighs more often than not. The cloth kept her covered, for the most part, but I could still see her wearing a pair of short shorts underneath. A glittering gold locket decorated her slender neck and her wrists were adorned with a chain of white feathers. On a girl like this, I expected to see fancy shoes, too, but strangely enough, the girl was bare-footed. Go figure.

She stretched and smiled as she breathed in air. Then without looking back, she headed off in the direction of the garden. Looks like I'll have the chance to pull off this stunt sooner than expected.

Two nights ago, Wuya had freaked out because of this chick. That night, we set off to spy, and if given the chance, kidnap her. The Xiaolin Dork wads were sitting in a room nearby, talking about her. When we found the room she was in, however, we only found a giant egg. Wuya went inside it, and something weird, freaky, and disturbing happened. The egg exploded, but stayed intact. The girl was in there, but she was different then. The Dweebs had caught us and they saw it happen too.

I don't know what exactly DID happen but it scared me; even worse: it scared Wuya. She was stuck in the egg with the girl, who was screeching her head off. Wuya got out in the end, but missing one of her tentacles. It reformed after we left, but she's still nervous about this girl. I decided that I would try to kidnap her again next chance I got. I didn't get the chance, though, yesterday. She was never alone. Now, however…

I ran to head her off. I waited in a tree in the garden. Lucky for me, the girl sat down right underneath me and started humming. She was completely clueless!

"GOTCHA!" I pounced and shoved a black bag over her. She screamed, so I grabbed a nearby branch and wacked her one. She fell over and I pinned her. She wiggled around and struggled; I sat on her and leaned forward to pin her with my weight. She tossed head back and smashed my nose. I yelped in pain and surprise. She tossed herself around a few more times and I leaned back so as not to catch her head again. This time though, she started kicked with her feet! She rocked from side to side and kicked me 2 or 3 times with her heels. I felt her arms wiggle free and I reared and threw my full weight down on top of her. I heard her wheeze as I knocked the air out of her, and I hooked my legs around hers to keep them still. She was still for half a second, then with a shriek that vibrated my bones, she kicked one more time. She hit my head and I felt the full force of the blow radiate through my skull. I grabbed the branch again and swung down and landed a heavy one to the back of her head. At once, she stopped struggling and went limp.

Cautiously, I climbed off. She didn't move. I pumped my fists. Yes! Hurriedly, I tied the girl's legs together tightly with twine, then did it again with the skirts wrapped around her ankles as well. I tied the twine around her calves and thighs, then tied her wrists together behind her back.

Curiosity got the best of me, so I pulled off the sac and looked at her face. She was stunning. She was gorgeous! My heart pounded in my chest. Shaking my head clear, I turned my attention to the girl's jewelry. I had slipped the anklet off her ankle when I tied her feet and I had done the same with her bracelets. I detached the gold locket from around her neck and stuffed it in my pocket. I tied twine around her arms to pin them to her sides, then I slipped the sac over her head again. It covered most of her body. I tied twine around the shoulders again, and the waist. It cut out a hole around her mouth so she could breathe.

I had to get her out of here before the others came looking. The girl's screams had been muffled by the sac, but I wasn't taking any chances. Someone might have heard them anyway.

I picked the girl up around the waist and started up my Helipack. I flew low so no one would see me. The girl was light as a feather, and I fell down when I tried to pick her up the first time. I was expecting something with a little more mass, so I had put too much effort into lifting her and I ended up on my butt.

I flew straight home. The girl didn't stir. I was beginning to think that I had… gulp… _killed _her, but when we got to my basement and I laid her on the table, I could see she was still breathing.

Wuya floated through a wall and hovered over the girl's body.

"Overkill much?" she wheezed.

"Hey," I said defensively. I rubbed the back of my head. "This chick knows how to kick, even pinned to the ground with a sac over her head! I had to try twice to knock her out."

Carefully, I cut the twine around the sac and pulled it off. Peeling away the black folds, the girl's face was revealed. I undid the twine binding her hands and feet together, then picked her up. I was expecting the lightness of her body this time.

I deposited the girl in a special chair. It was made of metal, and both the arm rests and the legs of the chair were equipped with leather straps and metal clasps. I fixed the leather belts around the girl's waist and fastened the metal band. I bound both of her wrists to the arm rests and clamped the metal fastenings on top. I did the same to her ankles when I attached them to the legs of the chair. Now all that was left was to straighten the girl's head and tighten the padded head clamp around it. She wouldn't be able to move at all.

I stepped back and admired my handiwork. On Wuya's orders, I had made this chair specifically so this girl wouldn't be able to move. The girl was still unconscious.

"Wake her up!" Wuya barked. I crouched down until I was eye-level with the girl. I tapped her cheek a couple times…

* * *

Raimundo

"MELODY!" Gidget shouted. She burst into the room in her robot form, her digital eyes wide. We jumped up.

"What's wrong?" I demanded. Gidget shouted, "She's in danger! She's screaming and fighting something!"

"How do you know?" Omi asked.

"I'm connected with her. Part of my job includes recording all her memories. I know where she is at all times, as long as she's awake! I can see through her eyes right now and read her stress levels. We have to hurry! She's in serious trouble!"

We ran outside. Clay scooped up Gidget.

"In the garden!" she shouted. We ran as fast as we could to the garden. But we weren't fast enough. Half way there, Gidget slumped and said, "Oh no…"

When we got to the garden, Gidget jumped out of Clay's arms and stumbled to the tree that Melody had sang under yesterday. She sat down heavily and sighed. We looked all around the garden, but found no sign of Melody. We mounted Dojo and flew around the temple grounds and areas nearby, but with no such luck. When we returned, Gidget stood up and faced us.

"I need you all to see the last few minutes of memory Melody had before she was attacked. It's important."

"Well, sure, okay, but how are we supposed to do that?" Kimiko asked. To answer, Gidget turned back into a laptop. Instantly, the black screen was alight with colors.

Melody sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavy, eyes wide. She looked around, wiped her face with her hands, and settled down.

"It was just a dream. Just a dream. It wasn't real." She murmured to herself. She sat staring into space for a few seconds before climbing out of bed. Immediately, her clothing changed into the clothes she wore yesterday. A look of annoyance flashed briefly across her face.

Her stomach grumbled audibly and she smiled and walked to the dining room. There, we saw ourselves, smiling at Melody and eating breakfast. We went through the conversations we had just a half hour ago and Melody got up. She took care of her dishes, then walked out onto the porch. From there, we had a different perspective. The camera, (I don't know what else to call it) was at an odd angle, looking down at Melody from a short distance away. Sunlight streaked through and flowers waved. A hummingbird passed. Melody stretched and breathed, then set out for the garden.

She walked slowly, taking everything in. She looked so peaceful and happy, it was hard to believe what happened next.

Melody sat down under the tree we were under now. It was easy for me to imagine her sitting beside me as I watched. She hummed an aimless tune. She watched the wind blow through the garden. Then, quick as a flash, everything was dark. A voice shouted, "GOTCHA!" Though I tried, I still couldn't see anything. Watching it through Gidget didn't allow me to smell the garden or feel the weight of whoever was on top of her. We could only see and hear.

"How come we can't see her right now?" Clay asked. Gidget paused the video feed and answered in a digital sounding voice, "most of her body was covered. I take information from everything around her and from her own eyes and ears. She was taken by surprise and covered. We won't be able the see anything except from Melody's eyes or a super close-up." Gidget started the feed again.

Melody was making noise alright. She struggled and tried to turn. From the way her head jerked up, I guess that she threw her head back. From the yelp that followed afterwards, it sounds as if she connected with her attacker's face. She wiggled around, still shouting, and a second later, we got a fuzzy picture. It wasn't from Melody's eyes. We could barely make out her legs at an odd perspective.

"What's happening now?" I asked.

"Melody's legs were sticking out of the sac. This is feed from the grass she had her legs on. I'm taking memory traces from the grass to try and see her attacker."

Melody threw up several good kicks and I could see someone sitting on top of her. She connected with the person's head twice. Both times her skin touched it, the picture became clear for a second. Gidget paused for us to examine the picture.

Flaming red was the most we could make out as her foot collided with her attacker's head. As her foot came back, we could see a pale white neck and black clothes. It wasn't much, but I knew immediately who kidnapped Melody.

"Jack Spicer," I growled. Jack threw his weight down on Melody and we heard her wheeze as the breath was knocked out of her. She roared with rage and kicked Jack again in the head. He wobbled a little, but he grabbed a thick branch lying nearby and slammed it down on Melody's head. Kimiko gasped. The picture disappeared. Jack Spicer had knocked out Melody and carried her off.

Gidget returned to her mobile form.

"I can't track her right now. But she'll have to wake up sooner or later, and when she does, I'll be able to see where she is. Granted, it'll just be the room she's in, but I can zoom out to the surrounding areas and pinpoint her location."

"But what do we do until then?" Kimiko wondered.

"You will get ready so you can leave quickly. Stay alert for Gidget's signal, then rescue Melody. We cannot afford to have her in the wrong hands." Master Fong said. I jumped. He had snuck up on us while we were watching, so he already knew what we did.

We did as we were told. We had our Shen-Gong-Wu ready. Dojo was doing warm-up laps around the temple grounds. Master Fong had us training while we waited. I had gone through the training course five times before Gidget gave the call.

"I got her! I'll lead!" she shouted. She transformed into a laptop again. On her screen was sort of GPS signal. We grab our Wu and took off on Dojo. Hold on Melody. We're coming.

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**Great! Raimundo is going to save the day (with help from the other Dragons).**

**Now about that idea...**

**How many out there wish that you could pop into the world of Xiaolin Showdown and be a part of everything that happens? I'm holding a competition: Write a Portal series. What this is is writing a story, centered around Xiaolin Showdown of course, where you, the author, are transported to this world through a portal. It can be ANY pairing you want, but YOU are a main character. Can be any genre, anything goes. TRY to keep it canon, but label it as AU or OOC if you can't help yourself. Basically, your life in Xiaolin Showdown. BE any side, friends with any character, make up any shen-gong-wu you'd like, and just have fun with it and try and make it a good, entertaining story. After it's done, send me the links to your story so I can read it! I know it doesn't sound as good here, but when I have mine posted, you'll see what I mean. TA!**


	17. Chapter 15

**Hello, it's Dadles. Another Chapter update! This is what happens when you leave Melody and Jack alone in the dark. Nothing nasty or romantic, just sadness and suspense, as well as humor. The Dark Wood is ALL MINE, and so is Melody, Morgan, Gidget, Morgan's world, and Melody's world. Daniel (Melody's father), Harmony (Melody's mother), and all other characters and fantastical places that are not in Xiaolin Showdown are MINE. I don't own Xiaolin Showdown.**

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Chapter 15

Melody

I was being pull out of the darkness. Someone was tapping on my face; I could feel it. Slowly, I become aware again, and I opened up my eyes. I blinked.

A boy was stooped over me, tapping my face still. He looked familiar. He had flaming red hair that stood up. It was messy looking, tussled, as if it was difficult to handle. The boy had made it work for him though. It was decent, at the very least.

The boy's eyes were a deep burgundy color. Over them, a pair of thick black eyebrows. His familiar face was white, his complexion pasty, as if he barely ventured outside. Outlining each eye, the boy had sleek, black eyeliner. Under his left eye, an extra stroke of the brush resulted in an elegantly curved line that started down his cheek, following the path that tears take. And most prominent of all, around the boy's head, he had on a pair of vintage goggles with a swirled pattern on the inside of each lens: The trademark goggles of Jack Spicer.

He tapped my face again.

"Dude, stop," I moaned. "I'm awake already." I peered at the boy groggily. He stood up and pulled an office chair toward him. He turned it so its back was to me and he plopped down in it facing me.

"So." He said simply. I waited for him to continue. He didn't say anything. I watched him. I definitely suspect him of being Jack Spicer, but he looks way different than the way he was portrayed in my world. His face had more angles and he looked more teenager-ly, instead of childish.

I watched his eyes slide away from my face and trail down my body. Is he checking me out? I tried to move my head to look down but I found that I could. I jerked my head, but it wouldn't budge.

I was aware now that there was a tight band around my head. I was also aware of the giant headache forming in the back of my head. My wrists, too, refused to move. My feet were likewise stuck. My eyes strained to see the rest of me.

"Figure out that you're stuck, yet?" the boy asked. I look up at him again. His eyes weren't wandering my body anymore. They were fixed intently on my face. I looked him in the eyes and stared deep into them. I refuse to back down. Eventually, he looked away again.

"Are you Jack Spicer?" I asked in a small, soft voice. The boy looked at me again and smiled.

"She speaks! I was under the impression that the only thing you could do was scream." He said smugly. My eyes flashed daggers at him.

"You know nothing about me, Jack. I have friends, you know."

"Yes, I have no doubt about that, but they don't know who took you or where you are. I doubt that they know you're missing yet."

"Why did you kidnap me?" I said, getting straight to the point.

"A little blunt there, don't cha think?"

"Well I have to be; you're definitely stronger than the Jack _I_ knew," I said. I planned on baiting him into telling me what I wanted to know.

Jack gives me this look, like he's interested and suspicious at the same time. I have no doubt that he's as easily manipulated as the TV show indicated. However, right now, he seems sharper than the average Crayola in the box. He sits down in the chair again and leans close to me. I would have leaned away, but I still couldn't move. He narrowed his eyes.

"You do realize that you're powerless right now, right? You can't move and you can't escape. I can drag this out for as long as I want, you know." He threatened.

"But you don't have all day and you don't have nearly enough patience to deal with me. So tell me what you want to know and I'll tell you what I want to know and we'll be done with it." I countered.

"Don't even try to start with that. Now, I don't know what you know about me. All I know about you is that I saw you in an egg trying to eat Wuya. As it is, you have something she wants back." I thought, was he talking about the tentacle piece? He could HAVE it for all I care! I was about to say so, too, when I heard Morgan's voice in my head.

"_Melody? Don't worry about this. I can get you out of here, quick and easy."_ _How?_ I thought. She didn't answer.

"_Melody, if you're trying to talk with your thoughts, I can't pick up on them right now. I don't know why. You have to talk out loud for me to hear you."_ Great. Just perfect.

Jack was looking at me weird. He waved his hand in front of my face, puzzled. I could feel that my eyes had gone wide when I heard Morgan's voice. I formed a quick plan in my head.

"Hello? Anybody home?" he said. He waved his hand in my face again.

"_Melody? Answer me please." _

"Alright, alright I hear you!" I grumbled. "No need to pester me, Jeeze."

"Huh? Wait, what are you talking about?" Jack said. I ignored him. In fact, I had decided that I would pretend that I couldn't even see or hear him anymore, just to confuse him further. I imagined sitting in a meadow and talking with Morgan. She sat cross-legged in front of me.

"_What's Jack doing right now?"_

"He was waving his hand in my face. I think I spaced out when I heard you. Then when I talked, everything disappeared. I can't see him right now. I'm somewhere else." I lied.

"_Really?"_

"No." I saw Wuya creep out of her hiding place.

"_You're lying? Oh! You don't want Jack or Wuya to know what's going on! Am I right?"_

"Yeah. You got it. Can you see?"

"_Not yet. I still haven't figured out how to see through your eyes yet."_

"Part of me is glad of that and part of me wishes you could right now. By the way, I haven't forgotten what you did." Wuya floated to Jack.

"I don't understand what's going on! Who is she talking to? What are they saying?" Jack said. He threw his hands up in frustration. Wuya looked pissed off, but mildly interested.

"Let's listen to her blather. She might say something useful." She said. Her voice was _exactly_ like the TV show in my old world!

"Can you hear?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"_Yeah. Whatever you do, try not to say something to give us away."_

"As if I'm dumb enough to do that!"

"_Look, I don't care. My main concern is for your physical safety right now, so just_ _listen."_

"_Just_ my physical safety?" I raised my voice indignantly. "What about my mental safety? You must've known I'd bring this up when we talked again! Why would you even _dare_ to care my safety when you had me virtually killed by the walking dead?" I shouted, agitated. I worked myself up in a rage. "How dare you? You declared yourself my enemy when we first met! You can't just suddenly _care_ about me!"

"_I _don't_, Melody! I care about your body because I'm gonna need it when I take it over, __so don't go PMSing on me! I'm not lucky enough to have a freakin' body like you do! I have to steal mine!" _she said callously. I felt rage bubble within me.

"You're not gonna bait me into feeling sorry for you. And you're lucky you _don't_ have one cause if you did I'd have beaten your ass right after you pulled that little stunt!"

"_Whatever happened to, 'We're sisters' and all that shit?" _she shrieked.

"Screw that! I don't care if we're twins or not! You're not my sister anymore! I don't want you to talk to me anymore! Leave me alone!"

"_Melody! Get over yourself and focus on escaping, damn it!"_ A hot tear slid down my cheek without my permission.

"FINE! But after this, I want you out of me! I don't care if I have to get someone to _cut_ you out of me, just as long as you're GONE!" I shout. I wait for Morgan to answer me. She doesn't. I could feel her fuming, my rage clashing with hers. Maybe rage doesn't mix. Jack and Wuya are staring at me. Having them successfully confused, I decide to quit the act.

"What the Hell are you lookin at? Take a picture. It'll last longer." I bitched. My scowl deepened when Wuya floated forward and stopped in front of me.

"Who were you talking to, girl?" she rasped.

"What do you care, witch?" I said in a hard voice, glaring.

"I want my tentacle back!"

"Too damn bad, you ain't getting it! Because of your own damn stupidity, I have to deal with Morgan. _She_ has your damn tentacle, so you won't be getting it back."

"_Bitch."_ Morgan hissed.

"Wuya, let it go! Something's wrong with her! Look, she's bleeding from her eye!" Jack pointed at my eyes as he spoke. Bleeding from my eye? My irritation evaporated. I would have lifted my hand to touch my face, but I was still strapped down in the chair.

Jack grabbed an unused washcloth and ran water in the sink to wet it. Then he ran over to me and grabbed my face in one hand while he cleaned the blood away. Wuya glared daggers at him.

"What are you doing? She's your enemy! You don't help your enemy!" she screeched.

"Look, I don't care if she's my enemy or not. She looks like she's just had some sort of mental attack, and whether she's mentally ill or not, I'm not about to let a pretty girl bleed all over my lair. Evil geniuses shouldn't have to deal with that. And the Xiaolin Warriors seem to think she's valuable. Wow, it's still coming…" Jack never looked away from me while he was talking to Wuya. He was too busy cleaning my face. He looked uncomfortable though, with blood still coming out of my eye.

"Shit, now it's coming from the other one!" Jack was frantic as he ran and grabbed a bucket from nearby and a ball of twine. He pushed the bucket to my chest and tied the twine around several times around the bucket, me, and the chair. Now I could hear the sound of my blood dripping loudly into the bucket.

Jack ran to the other side of his "Lair" (it's just his basement) and opened several drawers. He came back with several rags and towels.

"JackBots!" Jack shouted. Immediately, several greenish colored floating robots came out from the dark recesses of the shadowy basement. Still wiping the blood from my face, Jack ordered, "First aid kit from the bathroom please. I'm gonna see if I can't stop the bleeding all together." One of the robots darted off and floated silently up the stairs. I t returned a minute later with the familiar white box.

Jack paused in cleaning my face to open the kit. I heard the steady trickle of blood hitting the bottom of the bucket. Soon, though, the sound changed and instead I heard the sloshing of blood as it entered the bucket. It was really pouring.

Jack's hands were covered in blood. It was leaking through the rags, soaking them, and blood dribbled down Jack's fingers and seeped into his black, fingerless gloves. Jack was more frantic with his movements. I was wondering what was wrong with me.

A familiar burning began in my eyes. I felt a pricking sensation in my head and Jack and I both screamed a second afterwards. All of the straps and clasps holding me to the chair burst apart and I was wrenched upward. The same was done for Jack.

"What's happening?" Jack screams.

"How the Hell am I supposed to know?" I scream back. "I'm new to this shit too!"

A loud whirring is sounding from my chest. I can't move and neither can Jack. The bucket of blood spilled, but it was frozen in space with me and Jack. Jack still had his hand on my face, though the rag had fallen away. He tried to wrench it away but he couldn't. I can feel that we're both vibrating, now. We were floating in the air, and a blue bubble had formed around us, full of wind and kicking up the dust around the room. The JackBots had been tossed to the far side of the room, some crashing, and even Wuya was being pushed back, like it was a divine wind. My eyes were still burning from the blinding light coming from them and the bubble was filled with it.

The world disappeared as an ocean of blue swept around us. With a loud crack, the bubble suddenly disappeared and we fell. I landed heavily on my stomach and from the thud I heard behind me, I assumed Jack had fallen close by. I opened my eyes.

All around me, there was gray. Gray leaves littering the moldy gray dirt and gray tree trunks standing silent all around us. We were in the Dark Wood.

I saw that I was exactly where I was buried in the dream. There were no bodies hanging about, nor any tree roots wrapping themselves around my feet. My hand was outstretched in front of me, in a fist. Slowly, I opened it. The little acorn that I had picked from Morgan's tree was still with me. I pushed myself up to my feet and turned around. Jack was getting up and looking around.

"Where are we?" he asked, turning slowly.

"We're in the Dark Wood," I said glumly. He gave me a weird look, so I continued, "It's the place where all my negative feelings and memories reside. Fear, sadness, anger, regret, worry, all of those things are here. And the door to Morgan's world as well. We have to get moving, unless you want your own fears brought to life." Jack shuddered and came to stand next to me.

"Would you mind explaining stuff for me while we walk? I have no idea what's going on." He said. I nodded.

"Might as well. Maybe I'll be able to make sense of some of it, too."

I opened the hand with the acorn in it and said to it, "Guide us out of here please. I'd like to see the rest of my world. I've had enough of this place." I felt the acorn pulse with life and it glowed. It levitated over my hand, then started slowly forward.

"Follow me," I said to Jack.

We started walking after the floating acorn.

"So tell me about this place. Tell me about you." Jack said. I looked at him suspiciously.

"Why should I? You kidnapped me."

Jack looked sheepish when he said, "It's kinda part of my job. Wuya wanted that tentacle back and the only way to find out how to get it was through you."

"Bullshit." Jack blanched. I stayed silent for a second, fuming.

"I assume you know that I came from a different world. Well, in my original world, the place I was born, I was just a normal girl who went to school and tried to stay sane. My last day there, the day I came here, I was shot by accident and had to go to the hospital. I was murdered in the night by my nurse and I met Fate." I said. Jack made a face but didn't say anything, so I continued. "She told me all about myself and my father. I'm the new Traveler, supposedly. It means I have to travel to thousands of different worlds doing all sorts of things. Your world is my first world. This is my world, which is the world in my head. Everyone has one. It's formed from who you are and what you like, your imagination and personality, plus all sorts of different things that makes you you! However, from the interference of Morgan, I haven't been able to visit the rest of my world yet. I've explored part of Morgan's world, though."

"Who's Morgan? I heard you say something earlier about her." Jack said. I sighed.

"Morgan is my twin sister. Well, that's not exactly true," I corrected. "I don't know what exactly happened so that Morgan came to life, but we look exactly alike, except from our colors. We share the same blood, and we were born together. The thing is, we've been together my whole life. But Morgan wasn't sentient. She was inside me. She _is_ me, only she's my dark side. OH! How ironic: an evil twin." I say frostily. "Morgan and I have met. She knows plenty of stuff about this Traveler business; more than me, anyway. She said that only the Traveler is able to visit his or her own world, the world of their mind. People who connect themselves to a Traveler will not only be able to visit that world, but they'll be given the key to their own world and be able to see that too."

"Then do you think we're connected then? I mean, I'm here, aren't I? Isn't that how it's supposed to work?" Jack inquired, a little hopefully. I shrugged.

"I don't know hardly anything about the nature of this job or the exact inner workings of my mind. I don't even know what exactly that acorn up there is for. I don't know what I'm supposed to do," I said, a little dejected. Familiar waves of sadness greeted me once again.

I turned around as Jack yelped. Up ahead, the acorn paused to wait for us patiently.

The foggy mist that usually accommodated these Woods had returned. But rather than swelling out like a thick blanket between the trees and making visibility near impossible, it clumped together in one spot to form a fairly large rectangle. It proceeded to flicker, then it was static. I also saw that it was flat. The fog had turned into a 8'-by-11' screen. The screen flickered once more, skipped twice, then settled and colors begin to show. It was like watching a movie in the theater as it's beginning.

I saw my grandma. She stood in one spot, swaying from side to side, cradling something. She was younger-looking, and I realized with a sense of doom that I was watching the story that my grandmother had told me while I was in the hospital.

Grandma was rocking the baby me back and forth in a dark room that held a baby's crib and various toddler toys. I recognized that room as mine, aside from my baby things, from the window seat near the balcony and the grand spaciousness of the room that I could make out in the gloom. She stood in the middle of my room, peering down at me while I cooed, and though I couldn't see my face, the smile on Grandma's told me that I was smiling up at her as my baby-blue eyes struggling to stay open.

A bright light lit up my balcony windows and my father materialized behind us. The story played out exactly as Grandma had told it to me, and I stood frozen to the spot, unable to tear my eyes away from my glorious father.

I definitely had his golden hair and the way he set his lips was exactly the way I set mine. I compared my own features with him, finding familiar things in the way he stood tall, shoulders drawn back proud. We were built from the same block, he and I, and it was plain as day.

Daddy reached over and took the precious bundle that was me in his arms, yet he didn't lift me out of my grandmother's. This was his spirit and as such, he held no substance save his image. I imagine that at this point, there were paramedics trying to revive my poor daddy's body and failing. Then he gently kissed my forehead and walked through the portal that opened up behind him.

I proceeded by screaming my tiny, little head off, flailing my arms in the air and wailing for my Daddy. My face was contorted in the very picture of misery. In the here-and-now, I staggered and sobbed. I don't care if Jack can see my tears, I don't.

The screen went blank and a new picture came up. I realized it was the morning after my father's departure. A police officer came to the door and my mother answered it. I heard his words and my heart sank. The news seemed to weigh on my mother physically, as her shoulders slumped and her back bowed forward. Her sorrow, her bone-crushing sorrow, was entirely too deep for her to bear. Me? I stopped calling 'Daddy' and started calling 'Mommy'. She took no notice. She wouldn't even look at me. And once again, the screen went blank and a new memory began.

My knees crumpled beneath me with a muffled _whump!_ Somehow, my hands were able to stop me from lying completely on the ground, so instead, I sat on my legs with shoulders hunched up around my ears and sobbed. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut, but they wouldn't look away from what I saw, what I knew. Tears flowed freely and streamed down my face unrelentingly. I feel helpless. I want to die! _Please, PLEASE! Someone please kill me now, so I don't have to watch this, please!_ But no one came. No one killed me. I sat and watched the entire thing. I watched it happen and did nothing.

When finally, mercifully, the screen went blank, Jack cautiously approached me and asked the stupidest question he could possibly ask at a moment like this.

"Are you okay?" I take a deep, shuddering breath, and making sure I wasn't gonna burst into tears again, I let it out slowly, then leveled my gaze upon him.

"No," I answered. "That was the moment of my mother's death."

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**In later chapters, full details will be revealed through Raimundo's perspective as he and the others see through Gidget's eyes exactly what happens. God, I wish that you could use more than two labels in the genre section for categorizing stories. Or that you could label specific chapters. Some are horror, some adventure, some fantasy, humor throughout, some angst, and some hurt/comfort. Damn my limited options! R&R!**


	18. Chapter 16

**HI AGAIN! tis me, Dadles, with a chapter update! I am happy to announce SUMMER VACATION! W00T! Not much to say about this chapter, so keep it movin and READ! X3**

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Chapter 16

"Let's move." I said. Jack backed away while I got up. I think he might've been afraid I was gonna hit him. We walked to where the acorn waited patiently. Gently, I touched it and it lifted my heart a little. We continued to follow the glowing acorn as it led us through the Dark Wood.

"You know, you're really famous where I'm from," I said to Jack. I was trying to start a conversation. I feel a little bad and embarrassed about what he saw back there. It's not easy to know that you bared your soul to someone who hardly knows you. He looked at me. I pushed on.

"It was a television show. Xiaolin Showdown. I didn't like the way the makers portrayed you, but everyone still loves you. Of course, everyone loves a good villain in any story. You have tons of fans everywhere. They think you're cool and funny. They wish you were real.

"I thought I _was_ real." Jack sighed. "Well, at least I get _some_ respect _somewhere_." I nodded.

"Hey, Jack? Why did you kidnap me? I want the real reason." I asked. My question caught him off guard. Well, why wouldn't it? If you kidnap someone, get sucked into their world, watch the saddest moments of their life, and then get to hear that same someone talk about how much everyone loves you even though you're bad, I'm pretty sure you'd be caught off guard too.

Jack stumbled for an answer and finally emitted an, "Uhhhh…" I waited then sighed.

"You wanted power, didn't you?" It wasn't a real question. I said it as a statement. Why else would he have kidnapped me? "Just as well. I don't have any. At least, not yet anyways." We trudged onward.

The acorn began to glow brighter. I kept my eyes focused on the tiny seed and I didn't notice that Jack was falling behind, walking slower and steadily getting farther away. I only realized it when I heard him hit the ground and moan.

Startled and thinking for an instant that the tree-borne undead were back, I spun around to face them and fight. But I only saw Jack.

He was lying on his stomach, face down in the dead leaves. A couple of demented-looking clowns stood over him, knives and axes in hand, slowly advancing on his cowering body and laughing maniacally. The ground underneath Jack was wavering. Water began seeping up as the ground around Jack slowly turned to mush and started sinking, taking him with it. He looked up at me and I saw his eyes; he was paralyzed with fear. The water rose and Jack was soon thoroughly soaked to the bone. He couldn't move, couldn't scream. He could only keen, sitting frozen to the spot as the water rose and the clowns danced and juggled their weapons.

I moved toward him, to help him, to save him. Immediately, black, knarled roots rose from the ground and entwined themselves around my body. I couldn't move my arms or legs; as much as I struggled, I couldn't move and save Jack. The roots began to squeeze.

Jack was looking at me. He could see me unable to rescue him, as if he had thought I was choosing not to. He watched the roots tighten around my body and he saw my own fear. His face fell and I could almost hear him thinking that this was the end. I held my breath as the roots squeezed tighter around me, and I tried to plead with Jack with my eyes. But when Jack saw me in the roots' death grip, the darkness in the Wood surrounded him and bathed him in hopelessness. His face contorted in pain and terror and his body hunched in on itself.

Jack was shrinking. He wasn't just sinking into the mud and dying, he was shrinking as in getting smaller. As I watched, a year fell away from him. It exploded from his body, everything he'd done, everything he'd heard and seen, all his memories… it was a torrent of emotion and accomplishment and failure and LIFE! It was his life in that one year. The images and thoughts and feelings and sounds spilled out and away in 365 individual silver ribbons of the everyday life of Jack Spicer: Evil Boy Genius.

Another year fell away. Jack was 13. There went another… now he's 12. And there's another one… and another… and another… 9 years old, 8 years, 7, 6 , 5, 4, 3…

Seeing the terror on a 15 year-old genius is horrifying enough. I watched the years fall away and the fear and panic grow with every year of life that passed him by. Jack, the feeble toddler, the tiny tot, the 3 year old little boy, was stuck in the middle of a still growing pond, drowning. His moans had disappeared and he cried and screamed, thrashing about, trying to swim but failing and sinking.

I heard a snap somewhere inside me, and I felt something fall into place. Fury engulfed me and sucked me to its core. Heat flooded my limbs and my heart, which had battled futilely against the dark magic, took the heat and expanded it 'til it burst from my eyes in a blinding light. Power surge through my veins and I let out a scream of raging fury and hatred. My vision was red and I sought out the threads controlling this nightmare. I saw Morgan, saw her magic everywhere. I growled and bared my teeth. I set it on fire, burned it, destroyed it, and I took back all the power and magic she had stolen from me. I reached out with my mind and I took a mental form and slashed her surprised and unsuspecting face with nails outstretched, needle sharp and dreadfully painful. An animalistic roar erupted from my mouth. I broke my bonds, and they crumbled under my wrath as I ripped them away from me.

I felt Morgan's power fail a scant second before I saw it happen. The clowns disappeared in smoke and the water steamed and faded away. The ground was bare, dried and hardened. Little Jack lay in the center of the bare patch of scoured earth. The fire that danced across my body snuffed itself out as anger and fury gave way to worry and concern.

I rushed to Jack. He's only three years old. He's unconscious as well. I turned him over on his back and listened for a heartbeat. Satisfied that he was still alive, I noticed other things different about him.

As a 15 year old boy, Jack was pretty cute. It was something that I hadn't expected when I saw him because the animators for Xiaolin Showdown had made him silly looking. In real life, he was potentially someone I could stand dating, if I went about it in the usual teenage girl fashion and if we were both normal teenagers. As a three year old, though, Jack looks like a perfect little sweetheart. His hair is baby soft and his hands are so tiny. His face doesn't have the previous pallor and his cheeks are rosy.

His clothes had changed, too. On his feet, Jack wore only a pair of tiny black socks that stopped at the ankle. His shoes were one of the things that hadn't shrunk or changed. His covered toes poked out from beneath a pair of silky, black, almost gaucho-styled pants. He wore a simple, black turtle-neck from a very fine quality of cloth. It lay close to his skin and even though he was three, he looked like a very miniature young adult.

I picked up Jack's wet duster, his boots, his Helipack, and his goggles and gloves, all of which hadn't been shrunk or changed, and I wrapped them up together in the duster. Tying the sleeves together, I slung the soaked gear over one shoulder, then carefully lifted Jack off the ground. I carried him on my hip, as most mothers do with their toddlers, and his head rested upon my shoulder. My bundles secure, I walk onward after the acorn.

I shivered. The Dark Wood is chilly and cold because there is no sunshine. I could see my breath as I walked and I could feel Jack shiver in my arms. While the water was gone from the ground, Jack was still soaking wet, just like his stuff. Whether he's my enemy or not, he's still a human, and a little boy to boot. I have to keep us warm. This is the longest time I've ever spent in the Dark Wood so far and I don't know how much longer we'll be here.

I remembered what Gidget had said about my clothing and what Morgan had said about controlling my world. Since the Dark Wood is technically a part of my world, those things should apply and I should be able to control it to an extent. I stopped, set Jack's stuff down in a pile and Jack against it, and I ripped off the front portion of the skirt I wore over my shorts. Immediately, my clothing regenerated. I put my mind to work and the remaining cloth in my hand wavered and turned into a long cloak. I picked up Jack. I slipped the cloak on over my shoulders, covering Jack's body, and I tied the strings. The seams came together and fused themselves closed. The hood flipped itself up to cradle my head. The loose cloak tighten itself to hold me secure and I felt insulation line the inside. I picked up Jack's things and started walking again.

With a jolt, I felt myself feeling protective of Jack, as if he was mine and only mine. What a creepy feeling. I wondered at it. It's not hard to feel this way, I mused. He was like a sleeping baby, and I remembered my old baby dolls from back home. I had held them close to my heart, vividly believing that if I kissed them and cuddled them and loved them hard enough, they would be real and I would have someone who loved me and adored me. Someone besides my grandmother. In reality, as an orphan, what I really wanted was my own mother and father.

I shook my head. Enough of this. Just carry him along. You didn't know back then how hard it would be to take care of someone until you babysat for Ms. Fettle's two little monsters. Which is exactly why I donated those precious dolls to the Goodwill Center a week later. (Except for my knitted doll, Gloria. I loved her too much to let her go.)

So, shifting Jack in my arms, I followed the acorn, my gaze falling every now and then on Jack's sleeping face resting on my shoulder. He looks so sweet…

'STOP IT! He's your enemy! It doesn't matter if he's an adorable sleeping child at the moment. You should know better than to judge like that! Morgan is your sister, and look what she's done to you!' _Arguing voice inside my head, please shut-up_, I thought. _Just let me be._

Presently, the acorn stopped. I looked up at the wrought iron gate in front of me. The black spires stabbed up at the sky, except there was no sky. Everything beyond the gate was black nothingness. I felt like I was starring straight into the depths of Death himself. The black emptiness seemed to seep through the gates and steal whatever remaining color there was from the surrounding dreamscape, as everything around the gate was bleached and bland.

The acorn floated over to the center of the gates. It cast its glow over an impression set in the locked box. Peering closely, I could make out the designed outline of a heart embedded into the black bolt. Gingerly, I fingered my locket, then decided to risk it. I gripped the heart where it looped around the chain and it came away in my hand. I pushed it into the depression on the gate.

The heart glowed and lines of gold traced through the black metal. The gates clicked and opened silently inward, and as they parted, the darkness gave way to a white light that grew steadily brighter the farther the gates opened. The veil was parted.

I stared open-mouthed at what I saw. In my arms, Jack stirred slightly and opened his eyes to this new, glorious sight before us. The acorn circled us once, then led the way through into my true world.

* * *

Raimundo

Dojo sped through the air, desperately trying to fly faster. As it was, he was flying fast enough that the wind stung my eyes and I had to squint to see. It took us half an hour to finally track down Melody and get to Jack's mansion.

When Dojo touched down and shrank, he couldn't move any further. We let him rest outside while we trekked into the mansion.

Almost immediately, Wuya met us.

"What do you think you're doing, barging in like this? Get out, you fools!" she screeched.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just tell us where Melody is and we'll all leave after we get her." Kimiko snarled impatiently. Her blue eyes flashed daggers at Wuya.

Wuya sneered. "You want Melody? HA! I haven't a clue who that is!"

"Well, _I_ think you're lying," I stated. "Let's look around the house. We're bound to find her."

Wuya snarled and jeered at us the entire time we searched. Another half-hour had passed before we gathered in the kitchen, defeated. By then, Wuya had settled down and, satisfied that we weren't gonna find Melody, she sat silent, watching (glaring, more like) at us.

"No sign of Spicer on the ground floor," Clay said.

"Nada for the first, either," Kimiko stated.

"And absolutely nothing for the second story," I sighed, frustrated. Omi sighed as well.

"I, too, have failed to find Jack Spicer _or_ Melody," he said, dejectedly. I looked around the kitchen, and decided we needed a break. Also, I was hungry and I knew it'd piss off Jack if he knew we were eating his food.

"Let's grab some food then keep looking." I said. I walked over to the pantry closet and opened it. Or what I _thought_ was a pantry closet, anyway.

Darkness yawn before me and, faintly, I could see a blue light emanating from somewhere below. I turned around to see the reactions. Once again, Wuya held that furious expression on her face and my friends stared open-mouthed at me.

"Let's go." I said. My face was set and I took the first step into the Lair of Jack Spicer.

**Okay, Reviews please! Also, I am putting this story on Deviant Art! If you would like to see it there, plus some of the art I've done, which isn't much, seeing as I HAVE NO SCANNER, go to my profile there. Once again, I am dadles, both here, there, and EVERYWHERE! Love ya! bye.**


	19. Chapter 17

**Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? How long exactly, year, two? Bonus to anyone who can tell me. I gotta start working on this shit again... Anyway, read!**

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Chapter 17

Melody

There was sunshine everywhere! Green grass, blue, cloudless skies, and the comforting sound of birds and bugs, my world was a peaceful valley full of life. White marble paths cut across the countryside and white daisies grew in clusters among the grass. Butterflies flit from flower to flower. High, smooth-faced cliffs stand in the distance. Rolling hills stretched for miles and endless sky ruled above it all.

I walked forward in a daze. The acorn no longer led me, as I walked on my own, so instead, it followed me.

Jack squirmed a little. I could feel a dark oppression roll off his shoulders and he became a little lighter. I turned my attention back to him. He was still small.

"Are you alright now? I managed to save you, but you look like you're 3." I said. He leaned back and looked me in the face, wonder in his eyes and embarrassment smarting on his face. He didn't say anything. He leaned back a little too far, flailed, then wrapped his little arms around my neck as he caught himself. I laughed.

"I think you might be more comfortable walking now," I said, smiling. My mood lifted as I laughed and he nodded.

He loosen his knees from my hip and I set him gently on his feet before he let go of my neck.

"Can you talk?" I asked him. Jack looked around instead of answering me. He looked down at his clothes and fingered the material. He spun around, trying to see how he looked.

"Nevermind," I sighed. I grabbed his hand and walked slowly, bringing Jack along with me.

"Come on. I wanna put as much distance as possible between us and this place." Jack looked up at me with his big, burgundy eyes, a curious expression written on his face. He didn't struggle, but squeezed my hand in response. _Well, at least he can understand what I say. It's something._

We wondered at everything we passed along the white path. Jack was silent the whole while, but I filled the space by talking about my home life, my artwork, my grandmother… I sang a few songs that I knew, which I know Jack had never heard before, reason being that they only existed in my original world. He smiled, and nodded, and he seemed interested in what I said.

Finally, we reached the top of yet another hill. At the bottom of it, in the meadow beyond, 10 gold-leafed trees stood in a semi-circle directly in the center.

The beating drum roll of galloping hooves rumbled nearby. I turned to look and saw an _enormous_ horse thundering towards us. It bore down on us, never wavering from its path. The beast threw up clods of dirt and its untrimmed mane flew behind it as if it were an eagle bearing down upon its prey.

Jack was still distracted. He couldn't hear it yet. He looked up at me and squeezed my hand, breaking me from my reverie. My attention was so focused on the horse that I had temporarily forgotten about little-Jack. I pulled him behind me, never tearing my eyes away from the mammoth horse headed our way. By the time I did so, I could hear the animal's breath as it ran.

Jack had seen what I saw when I pulled him behind me and he stumbled backwards and fell. The horse jolted to a halt directly in front of me. When the dust cleared, the horse was gazing intently at me, breathing heavy. It was bigger than a draft horse and it towered above me. She was a chestnut mare, with a white stain upon her breast. Her mane and her tail were black.

She bent her head and nosed my face and whickered.

"Hello again, Celeste." I whispered. The mare threw her head back and whinnied.

_As I recall, you changed my name to Spirit._ The thought-speech echoed in my ears. I smiled and lifted my hand to pet Spirit's nose. _We were expecting you. However, it's strange that you would bring, er,_ him _with you._ Spirit pointed her nose at Jack. I stayed where I was as Spirit slowly walked around me to stand and tower above him. Bringing her head down to Jack's level, she said, _Tell me your name, little one._

"I'm not sure he can talk," I said. Spirit looked at me, then kneeled on the ground.

_Climb on._ I grabbed Jack up from the ground and set him on Spirit's broad back. She shrank for me and I climbed on to sit behind Jack. She rose up again and suddenly took off.

I hadn't ridden a horse since I was 12, but my lessons soon came back. I gripped Spirit's mane and leaned forward, moving with her. Jack sat between my legs, stiff as a board. He'd obviously never ridden a horse, a certainly never one of this size before.

She sprinted the remaining distance to the half-circle of trees in the meadow at the bottom of the hill. Jack sat in stony silence while exhilaration flew at my face and I yelled in excitement. Which got me wondering. I was scared of heights, but I wasn't scared of horseback riding? Seriously? Jack's eyes were squeezed shut against the wind.

When we reached the trees, Spirit slowed to a stop. I slid off her back, then pried Jack free, as he was still frozen. When I set him down, his legs collapsed and he yelped. I sighed, then helped him up and offered a piggy-back ride.

The trees were an illusion. From the top of the hill, it seemed as if there was nothing but a small semi-circle of trees. However, I could sense a strange power around it, and when we entered the boundaries, grass turned to floor and we were in a room. Computer screens were everywhere. White and gold lights blinked and important-looking machines hummed and whirred. Data was streaming over everything, and in the middle of it all, a tall, human-sized, gray and white rabbit typed here and there, punching in numbers, checking machines, looked at data, and basically ran to and fro, running everything at once. The rabbit turned, and I saw his face.

"Oh!" he said. I was speechless. Jack dropped down off my back, recovered from his traumatic ride. A tear slid down my cheek and emotion rose up in me. The rabbit smile and opened his arms to me.

"Melody."

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**K, shortish chapter, but more on the way.**


	20. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

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_"Oh!" he said. I was speechless. Jack dropped down off my back, recovered from his traumatic ride. A tear slid down my cheek and emotion rose up in me. The rabbit smile and opened his arms to me._

_"Melody."_

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Chapter 18

That's all he needed to say. I ran into his open arms and cried tears of joy and relief. He patted my head.

"Benjamin!" I sobbed.

I remember Spirit and Ben from my toddler days. They were both with me when Mother died, and all through elementary school and the beginning of middle. They were my imaginary friends.

I met Benjamin Bunny during my second day of kindergarten. My teacher, Miss G., taught us all in the yellow class. Every week, she taught us all a new letter, and we'd do activities for that letter every day. I remember when Miss G. taught us the letter 'Q'. She explained that 'Q' and 'U' were in love with each other. She said that we wouldn't find 'Q' without 'U'. So when 'U' finally rolled around, we held a wedding in the classroom. 'Q' and 'U' got married and we had a party. There was cake, ice-cream, music, games, and an extra story hour. It may seem a bit stupid now, but I was in kindergarten then, and it was fun and exciting.

Anyway, the day we learned 'B' was the day I met Benjamin. Miss G. had this special letter pad. It was HUGE. And it had numbers and colors and shapes on it too, each with a corresponding tape, but we did the letters first. On the page for 'B', there was a picture of a tall rabbit standing on his hind legs. In one hand, he held a bottle of bubbles. In the other , he held a bubble wand. Bubbles floated in the air around his head. When Miss G. played the tape, it played a tune and sang:

Ben-ja-min Bu~nny

How do you do~?

Blow-ing your bub-bles

When-ev-er you're blue?

There was a lot more to the song, but I can only remember the first part. And I knew the tune by heart, but I don't know the name of it. That doesn't matter, though. Benjamin blew his bubbles and was sad, until I sang along with the song. He had looked at me with admiring eyes, hopped straight out of the picture, and hugged me. I was surprised that no one else had saw, but I was happy. Benjamin had become my best friend.

The thing with Benji that no one else knew, or could have known, was that he was extremely smart. He was also super fast. He built his own pair of rocket boots. He also built a flying bike and a pair of mechanical wings. On top of it all, Ben was always athletic, and just for fun, he ran alongside the car, or used one of his many inventions, and he did cool tricks off the landscape to entertain me while I rode somewhere.

I met Spirit one day while on summer vacation. I lay by Benjamin in my backyard. I kept feeling tremors in the ground, and when I sat up and looked around, I saw these massive hooves. They were the size of my room! She bent her head so we were eye-level with each other and she greeted me.

Ben and I could talk through my thoughts. I spoke to Ben through them and Ben answered out loud. He could hear my thoughts, but I couldn't hear his. Spirit speaks through her thoughts always. The only sounds she makes out loud are regular horse sounds.

Another interesting thing about Spirit is the fact that she is able to adjust her size. The norm for her is a gigantic horse, but sometimes, she shrinks down to normal size, or even the size of a pea, just for fun. Her purpose, like Benjamin's, was to entertain me and be my friend. I was entertained enough just sitting and staring at her enormous bulk, wondering at it and admiring her.

For years, we were all together. I convinced Grandma to let me go horse-back riding, as a sort of entertainment for Spirit. Spirit even gave me a few tips, which is weird, now that I think about it. I didn't know anything that she had taught me before. If she really was just a figment of my imagination, how could she have known something that I myself didn't?

That's not the point. We used to all be together. But after a while, I started seeing them less and less. I couldn't hear them as clearly and I got the sense that they were fading away.

As she knew my thoughts and feelings, Spirit felt entitled to explain. Despite what Fate had said about there being no magic in my original world, there _is_ a type of magic. Ben was created by it. He chose me as his child of his own free will. And Spirit was attracted to me by the magic that I surrounded myself with. And she chose to stay by me. Of her own free will. They weren't imaginary friends, because they were real, in a sense. But I was getting too old.

Here's how Spirit explained it to us. (Ben didn't know what was happening either.) Special creatures are created from raw magic hiding and lingering in the world. I guess that's one of the imperfections Fate was talking about. Well, these creatures are created all the time, but the only people who see and hear them, are children. Sometimes, the creatures will get attached to a child. They bond with the child and fuse their magic, and their fate, within that bond. Therefore, they gain access to the child's thoughts. (I had asked a lot of questions regarding all of this.) but when the child loses the ability the see and hear them, the creatures, dubbed "Imaginary Friends", fade away and reside within the person's dream world. It's not so bad. Worse things could happen. A child could lose interest and blatantly abandon their friend. The result is that the creature, the friend, is destroyed. Remember, they fused everything they are to the child. When the child rejects it, well, imagine being rejected by your parents. Everything they are is shattered. They die. The left-over residue from the magic turns into something dark and black. The magic is corrupted. Therefore, bad things happen, most specifically the child in question. The bond, once made, is never severed. The creature may be destroyed, but it's magic is still tied to the child.

What happens next is anybody's guess. Spirit is an old soul. She's been around longer than anyone I know. She's strong enough that she doesn't fade away after a while. But that was because she never actually connected with someone. She spoke through thoughts, so it was natural that she could hear others' as well. She never needed to connect. Until she met me. Then they faded away, into the recesses of my mind. And that's when all my troubles began.

Jack cleared his throat. I brought myself out of my memories and let go of Ben.

"It's so good to see you again." I managed to say. This time, it was Ben's turn to hug me. When he pulled away, he brushed his paw across is eyes quickly and turned away.

"Well now, joyful reunion aside, I think we owe you some more explanations, don't we? he said.

"Well, first, I was hoping you would know how to fix Jack." I said. Jack looked up at me.

Ben looked at Jack and considered it a moment. "Ah, yes, that nasty bit of work, Morgan, did this, right?" I nodded. "Well then..."

He walked over to Jack and picked him up by his waist, like every adult does when they pick up a small child. Jack flailed and squirmed. "Stop it, you! Ya wanna be fixed or not?" He set Jack on a large table nearby. A doctor's jacket and supplies appeared on the table, and Ben put the coat on. After rifling through the supplies, he turned to Jack. He peered into his eyes, harrumphed, then went about the business of playing doctor to Jack. I knew he was just playing around for my entertainment, but Jack thought he was serious.

"Breathe in," Ben said. He whipped the stethoscope under Jack's shirt and Jack yelped. "Breathe in, darn it! Okay, now breathe out. Good! Now cough." Jack sheepishly obliged, sneaking a glance at me to see if I was watching. I waved and he blushed.

Finally, Ben decided he was done. "Well, only one way he'll get better." he said.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"He needs to apologize properly for kidnapping you, and then he has to thank you properly for saving his sorry butt from Morgan."

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**I've decided that my chapters need a limit to how long they are. So don't get mad. I'm just getting... tired of this story. It's old. But you can renew my vigor with your enthusiastic reviews! R&R please...**


	21. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 is up! Cuteness in this chapter. Also, you need to put your imagination skills to the test and decifer my descriptive words. :D**

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Chapter 19

Jack gawked at Benji.

"But he can't talk!" I said.

"He WON'T talk, you mean. He's a three-year-old boy, he's gonna sound way different than he does as a fifteen-year-old. And when he apologizes, if he means it, he'll turn back into his normal self. Of course, he'll have to do it over again in the real world. He has the same body there right now as he does here."

Jack glared daggers at Ben. For what it was worth, Ben turned and grinned at Jack, which made him scowl even more.

"You know, I hope your face gets stuck like that," I said. Jack gulped. "I'm waiting..." I coaxed. I believe I was actually enjoying this.

Jack gritted his teeth and hopped of the table. I stayed were I was and waited for him to walk over to me, which wasn't far. It will hurt his ego and his pride, but he can stand it. Personally, I think boys are better off when their ego is bruised every now and then. They act civil for a while.

Jack stood at about three feet high. Standing across from me, he looked up and said in the most cutest little-boy voice I had ever heard, "I sincerely apologize for my behavior towards you and for kidnapping you away from the Temple. I also express my gratitude to you for rescuing me from my fears in the Dark Wood. Please accept my apology and my gratitude."

I thought on this. He _seemed_ sincere enough, and plus, he totally had me with his adorable looks and his adorable voice. I sighed. Kneeling on the ground so we were eye level, I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I accept your apology, Jack Spicer, as well as your gratitude."

A warm wind swept around us and engulfed Jack. It lifted him completely off the floor and held him in the air. Swimming in the wind, thousands of tiny white specks were swarming over him. A bright flash of white light blinded me and Jack's cries were cut off with a gasp. It was over in a few seconds. Remnants of white petals and downy feathers drifted slowly to the floor around Jack and dissipated. Jack had returned to normal.

He still wore the black turtleneck with the black pants, but they were form-fitting now, and looked way better on him. I felt myself blush. This was _definitely_ not the same Jack that I knew.

"I'm back to normal!" Jack shouted, as he turned his hands over, inspecting them. He spun around trying to see himself better.

"Not exactly," Ben said, approaching Jack, with duster in hand. It was dry now, I noticed. Jack put it on and admired it.

The duster was different from what it was like before Jack came here. It was more flowing, for one, lighter. The collar turned up even more sharply than it did before. The sleeves were longer and wider, hanging at Jack's knuckles. The ends of the duster were halved. The front was opened, like it was supposed to be, but the back had a split in the center that went up from the bottom to Jack's lower back, where it met his spine. It didn't cling to him, no; it sat aloof from him, spread out like a slight bubble around his legs. It was a deep black, not a dark gray. The buttons started in-between Jack's collar bones, and they ended shortly below his bellybutton. The lapel folded over the buttons so I couldn't see them after Jack covered them. Deep red patterns swirled over the fabric below Jack's waist, twisting elegantly and mysterious, slipping ever so slightly on his slimmed sides.

He caught me looking and smirked.

"See something you like?" I snapped my head out of my thoughts, blushing furiously.

"N-no! It's just, your duster is so different!" I said quickly. Jack laughed and said, "Oh come on, Melody! You're such a bad liar!" I huffed and looked away, crossing my arms over my chest in the process.

"As I was saying, you aren't exactly the same. Like it or not, you and Melody are connected now. If you know how, you can enter this world again whenever you want." My eyes widened at that. "Sometimes, you _might_ find Melody here, if she's visiting as well, but depending on your mood and recent things that you've done, you might end up somewhere else. You might end up in the Dark Wood again. Being connected with Melody means that you'll have to deal with Morgan and her little schemes."

"Schemes?" I asked. "What schemes?" I frowned in irritation. I don't want Morgan doing anything awful. I'll have to stop her at all costs. Sister or not, I can't allow her to screw things up.

"Oh, Morgan did something, got somewhere, and was able to trigger your ability to come here. Somehow, she knew that if you were here, your body would be shielded in the waking world. However, she didn't anticipate activating ALL your powers. Not that it's a bad thing, but you were supposed to come into them in your own time. You know, make it a gradual change." I sighed.

"Yeah, everything's been one thing after another. Nothing gradual about any of it. Get upset, get shot, um, DIE. Then it's meet Fate, fall into a new world, meet the monks, and fall into some weird dream state. And afterwards, meeting Morgan, waking up, hearing my real name and forgetting it, violently I might add, and receiving Gidget. Then it's getting jumped by Jack here, and now all of this. Fate said I need to get used to it and take things in stride. I highly doubt that I'll be getting a break from it at all." I sighed again.

_Another thing Morgan didn't intend is Jack. His presence in the Dark Wood tempted her into trying to steal power. She made his fears come alive and was successful until you—_

"Snapped?" I offered, cutting Spirit off. "Yeah, the years were falling away from Jack. He was only three and then he was drowning."

"Then that's when you two connected. You saved his spirit." Benjamin said. Jack blushed slightly and looked away from me.

"The only reason he came with me here is because he was cleaning my face." I said. Spirit and Ben gave me weird looks, so I elaborated. "I was bleeding from my eyes. Badly." Recognition flashed across Benjamin's face.

"Ah, that's a side-effect of Morgan's influence. Don't worry, you won't bleed to death. What's disturbing, though, is that Morgan was able to influence you so easily..." Benjamin said.

"Morgan shouldn't be able to influence me at all," I sighed. "I don't want her to mess up my life anymore than it already is."

_Morgan __is in your blood. She's in your heart, in your mind, and she's a part of your soul. Since the two of you are one and the same, it will be impossible to separate you two._ I sighed again.

"well, what do we do now?" Jack asked. Benjamin answered, "Melody has to activate her world." We just kinda looked at him funny. Now it was Ben's turn to sigh.

_He means, _said Spirit. _that you'll need to use your locket. In every world, at least one material possession is needed to begin activation._

"So step over here and put your locket in the console." Ben said, grabbing my arm. He gestured to one of the machines at the far end of the room and led me there. I approached it cautiously.

It was a tall, gleaming, silver cylinder. As I approached it, the metal doors slid back with slowly, emitting a slight _shink!_ in response. The glass doors behind them opened silently, offering the space inside to me.

Carefully taking off my necklace, I hesitated before putting the locket inside. _What if something goes wrong? What if I won't be able to get my locket back? As it is, it is the only thing of my father's that I have._ Pushing back my thoughts of doubt, I gently placed this precious object in the cylinder, where it floated dreamily in place. The glass casing slid shut, protecting the locket, but still allowing me to see it. The locket began to glow.

The machine hummed to life. The glow grew brighter and spread through-out the room. The walls faded away as the humming grew louder and the glow grew brighter. The ground beneath us shook and rumbled angrily. The bright flash of light blinded me. And then it was over.

Blinking away the red spots in my eyes, I peered through my fingers at my world. The walls and machinery were gone. I looked around and couldn't find any of the shiny metal machines or the walls or even the golden trees. Grass surrounded me on all sides. Long, thin blades of grass waved gracefully as I found myself suddenly standing in a great field, and ocean of green around me, waving around me. It lapped around my waist and I smiled. This felt like a place of peace. A place where I could think.

Spirit nudged me and pointed her nose at something. I turned and noticed the rock. It stood maybe three feet higher than the grass, which was waist-level to me, and it was a circle about six feet wide. It looked rugged and worn, and it was a dull gray and white color, like granite. Even though it was probably six feet high, I could see that the top of it was smooth and flat, as if someone had taken a knife and sliced off the top. My locket hovered above it.

"Now what?" I asked, completely awed. Ben said, "You gotta do what you love most." Spirit flicked her tail gently and said, _Give your heart to your world. Pour your soul into it and give it life._ I thought hard about that. What did I love to do? Well, I loved to do a lot of things. But the thing above it all...

My memories flicked back to the past. First grade, first day of school. I walked in the doors, Grandma leading me to my classroom. The secretary had given us directions. When Grandma found the right room, she kneeled down in front of me.

"_, don't be scared. Everyone will be friendly. But you have to make an effort to try and make friends. Roger won't be here forever, so it's a good idea to have other people to rely on, okay?" I was only six. I nodded, even though I _was_ scared. Grandma was always right.

Again, I wondered briefly who Roger was, before the memory continued.

Grandma knocked softly on the door. Someone opened it and I looked up. A stout woman with curly brown hair looked down at me. She smiled warmly and said, "So this is our new arrival!" I gulped down my nervousness and stared up at her wordlessly. At my side, I felt a warm fuzzy paw slip into my hand. Ben, who has been with me since kindergarten, would be here on my first day of first grade.

Grandma had forgotten that school started during the week we were gone. She had to take care of some business somewhere else and had taken me with her. Now that we were back, though, I had to go to school. And it was a new school, different than the one I went to in kindergarten. This wasn't day care: this was Elementary.

The woman, who turned out to be the teacher, ushered us in. Childrens' faces looked up curiously at the new girl who had arrived two weeks after school had started. I stared at them. They looked so different from me! The teacher spoke.

"Alright, boys and girls! We have a new friend today! This is _. Say 'hi' to her please!" The class echoed 'Hi, _' and studied me expectantly. Grandma leaned down and whispered in my ear, "You know what to do when you get nervous, right? Don't worry and everything will be fine. I'll pick you up after school. I love you!" I nodded.

After Grandma had left, the teacher turned to me and said, "Well, say something about yourself!" This, naturally, had shocked me. I didn't expect to have to talk in front of everyone. Ben squeezed my hand gently and said, "Do what feels good to you."

I smiled at the class in a shy way and sad softly, "I-I like to sing." The teacher smiled warmly and said, "Would you like to sing us a song, then?" I watched the class perk up. They were looking at me, interested in seeing their newest classmate sing a song to them. I couldn't think of a good song though.

Ben started singing low to me, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..." I smiled and took a breath.

"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray! You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

I sang it softly, then began again a little louder. "You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray! You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away!" A little girl with wavy, chocolate colored hair and green eyes spoke up, "Your voice is pretty!" The class smiled at me and told me what a pretty voice I had. They made me feel welcome and safe with their compliments. I blushed and said thank you, before the teacher gave me a seat.

Back in present day, I realized that the thing I loved to do the most was sing. I remember growing up, I always said I wanted to be a singer. Realization dawn on my face and Benjamin smiled. He remembered that day along with me, when he helped me get the courage to sing on my first day of school. Ironically, the girl who said my voice was pretty that day was none other than Brooke, I remembered. Huh.

I grabbed hold of the top of the rock and pulled myself up. As I did so, I heard Jack say, "What does she like to do most?"

Spirit answered, _Besides day-dreaming about all her crushes in this world, she loves to sing._ I blushed when she said that, but my back was turned from her still as I tried to climb up the rock. Before I could stop myself, me and my big mouth said, "It's not like I have very many! There's only three!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I immediately regretted it, seeing as one of those 'crushes' was here with me and listening. I felt my eyes go wide and a guilty blush creep over my face. (What? He's famous in my world and practically every girl who's ever seen the show likes him!)

"Crushes? As in boys she _liiiiiiiiikes_?" Jack drew the word out as he said it, leaning forward and grinning obnoxiously. I finally climbed the rock and sat on the edge. It's very hard to climb when you're bare-footed and wearing a stupid dress-thingy, even if there _are_ shorts underneath.

"_Liked."_ I lied. "And yes, obviously they're boys. Or, two of them are, anyway." It just happened that one of them wasn't a boy. He was a _man_. I saw Jack's face contort in confusion, and it just occurred that what I said sounded wrong. Much to the amusement of my imaginary friends, I stuttered horribly and tried to explain what I meant. I was tripping over my words so badly, I had to stop and begin again.

"I mean, two of them are my close to my age! The other one is an older man, way older, and—wait." Something just occurred to me. "I don't need to discuss this with you. It's none of your business, and even if it was, which it _isn't_, I still wouldn't tell you." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Melody," Ben chuckled. "You're getting slightly off track, here."

"Well it's not _my_ fault…" I said, and I stood up on the rock. I looked around and gazed over the beautiful plains. In a way, it's still a meadow, of sorts. There's trees over there, and over there...

The locket hovered above me, but I paid it no mind. There was no microphone, but then again, did I really need one? My name is Melody now, and a melody is sung alone and by itself. I'm not like my mother, I don't need something or someone else to compliment me...

I caught my mind wondering again. I shook my head briefly and cleared it. Mentally reaching inside myself, I pulled a song from my heart. When I was resolved, music began, low at first, but steadily getting louder. I recognized it as what I was gonna sing and I waited for the right part. I opened my mouth, took a breath, and sang.

* * *

**Y'all can skip the next chapter if you want. Nothin but lyrics. God, I was slightly lame when I was younger. This stuff is _OLD!_ I'll upload everything I have typed so far, then maybe I can work out the lame-ness in future chapters. TA!**


	22. Chapter 20

**Blah, nothing but lyrics and some words. When I first started writing this "book", I wanted Melody's singing to be an important part of this. But I realize that it would only work out in an anime of this story. :( You can skip this, I don't mind. BTW, there are 5 songs here. They will be listed at the bottum of the page, if you want to look them up and listen to them. WARNING: Sappiness. Lots and lots of ewwy, goewy, sappishness. I am internally killing myself.**

* * *

Chapter 20

Mentally reaching inside myself, I pulled a song from my heart. When I was resolved, music began, low at first, but steadily getting louder. I recognized it as what I was gonna sing and I waited for the right part. I opened my mouth, took a breath, and sang.

_I can see,_

_when you stay low 'nuf it happens_

_does it feel right?_

_Late at night,_

_things I thought I put behind me_

_on my mind_

_I just know there's no escape now_

_once it's set its eyes on you_

_but I won't hope not to stare it in the eye..._

_Stand my ground, I won't give in!_

_I won't deny it,_

_I gotta face it._

_Won't close my eyes_

_and hide the truth inside!_

_If I don't make it,_

_someone else will_

_stand my ground._

_It's all around_

_getting stronger, coming closer_

_into my world, my world._

_I can feel,_

_that it's time for me to face it._

_Can I take it?_

_Though this might just be the ending_

_of the life I held so dear_

_but I won't hope there's no turnin' back from here!_

_Stand my ground, I won't give in!_

_I won't deny it,_

_I gotta face it._

_Won't close my eyes_

_and hide the truth inside!_

_If I don't make it,_

_someone else will_

_stand my ground._

_All I know for sure_

_is I'm tryin'._

_I will always stand_

_my ground..._

_Stand my ground, I won't give in!_

_I won't give up!_

_I won't deny it! I gotta face it._

_Won't close my eyes_

_and hide the truth inside_

_if I don't make it,_

_someone else will—_

_Stand my ground, I won't give in!_

_I won't deny it,_

_I gotta face it._

_Won't close my eyes_

_and hide the truth inside!_

_If I don't make it,_

_someone else will_

_stand my ground._

Emotion riddled every word, wrenching my heart open to the world. I clutched my chest and squeezed my eyes. The music was loud; it reverberated down my spine as I sang. I pushed every ounce of strength into each word to make it true. I thought of the home that I had left, the family I had loved. I felt in my soul that this was a new beginning for me. It was a chance to start over. Evil may try to push me down, but I WILL stand my ground and fight. I WILL defend this place. I will defend my friends, fight my enemies, and do my best to retain balance in the world. In ALL worlds...

As the music faded away, the sky darkened slightly. I felt another song bubble out of me and I started again, the music threading my voice into the world.

_The world seems not the same,_

_though I know nothing has changed_

_it's all my state of mind_

_I can't leave it all behind_

_have to stand up to be stronger._

_Have to try_

_to break free from the thoughts in my mind_

_use the time that I have, I can't say_

_good-bye_

_have to make it right_

_have to fight_

_cos I know in the end, it's worthwhile_

_that the pain that I feel slowly fades_

_away, it will be alright_

_I know, should realize_

_time is precious, it is worthwhile._

_Despite how I feel inside_

_have to trust, it'll be alright_

_have to stand up to be stronger_

_have to try_

_to break free from the thoughts in my mind_

_use the time that I have_

_I can't say, good-bye_

_have to make it right_

_cos I know in the end, it's worthwhile_

_that the pain that I feel slowly fades_

_away, it will be alright_

_oh, this night is too long-sleeved_

_have no strength to go on_

_no more pain, I'm floating away_

_through the mist, I see the face_

_of an angel, who calls my name_

_I remember, you're the reason I have to stay_

_Have to try_

_to break free from the thoughts in my mind_

_use the time that I have, I can't say_

_good-bye_

_have to make it right_

_have to fight_

_cos I know in the end, it's worthwhile_

_that the pain that I feel slowly fades_

_away, it will be alright..._

The pain I felt over my lifetime flowed into the world with my words. I released all my grief and pain and sang the song, hoping to get it all out. The next song that I reached for wasn't sad or angry or painful. It was one of awe. I heard the piano play and I smile ruefully.

Then the real music started and I sang.

_Do it, now_

_you know who you are_

_you feel it in your heart_

_and you're burnin', and wishin'_

_but first, wait_

_won't get it on a plate_

_you're gonna have to work for it harder, and harder_

_and I know, cos I've been there before_

_knockin' on the door with rejection, rejection_

_and you'll see_

_cos if it's meant to be_

_nothing can compare to deserving your dreams_

_It's amazing, it's amazing_

_all that you can do_

_it's amazing, makes my heart sing_

_now it's up to you!_

_Patience, now._

_Frustration's in the air_

_and people who don't care_

_well it's gonna get you down_

_and you'll fall_

_yes you will hit a wall_

_get back on your feet and you'll be stronger and smarter_

_and I know, cos I've been there before_

_knockin' down the door, won't take 'no' for an answer_

_and you'll see, cos if it's meant to be_

_nothin' can compare to deserving your dreams_

_It's amazing, it's amazing_

_all that you can do_

_it's amazing, makes my heart sing_

_now it's up to you!_

_Ooooooooo ooooooooo!_

_Don't be embarrassed_

_don't be afraid_

_too many dreams slip away_

_this denomination, makes it a gift,_

_everyone goes adrift..._

_never give up,_

_never give time_

_trust your instincts_

_just supports me,_

_you've got nothin' to lose,_

_so just go for it_

_It's amazing, it's amazing_

_all that you can do_

_it's amazing, makes my heart sing_

_now it's up to you!_

_It's amazing, it's amazing_

_all that you can do_

_it's amazing, makes my heart sing_

_now it's up to you!_

_Ahhhh! haaaaa~aaaah!_

_Haaaaaaa! Haaaaa~aaaaaahhhhh..._

I put my faith into the words. I had faith that everything would turn out okay in the end. I believed that what I was doing would work and that it would help. It allowed me to relax and let it go. I breathed a sigh at the end.

The sky was lighter, little rays of sunshine peeking through the cloud banks. And suddenly, for no apparent reason, I felt like doing something fun. Reaching inside me yet again, I pulled out a fun song that was sure to express how I felt.

_Oh oh oh~o oh oh oh~o~o!_

_Oh oh oh~o oh oh oh~oh~o!_

_Oh oh oh~o oh oh oh~o~o!_

_Oh oh oh~o oh oh oh~oh~o!_

_It started with low light._

_Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed_

_and then they took my blood-type._

_It left a strange impression in my head._

_You know that I was hopin'_

_that I could leave this star-crossed world behind_

_but when they cut me open,_

_I guess I changed my mind!_

_And you know might_

_have just flown too far from the floor_

_this time,_

_cos they're callin' me by my name!_

_And the zipping white light beams_

_disregard the bombs and satellites!_

_That was the turnin' point._

_That was one lonely night!_

_The storm-maker says it ain't so bad._

_The dream-maker's gonna make you mad_

_the spaceman says everybody look down_

_it's all in your mind._

_Well now I'm back at home and_

_I'm lookin' forward to this life I live_

_you know it's gonna haunt me_

_so hesitation to this life I give._

_You think you might cross over_

_you're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea_

_you better look it over_

_before you make that leap!_

_And you know I'm fine_

_but I hear those voices at night_

_sometimes,_

_they justify my claim!_

_And the public don't dwell on my transmission_

_cos it wasn't televised._

_But it was a turnin' point._

_Oh what a lonely night!_

_The storm-maker says it ain't so bad._

_The dream-maker's gonna make you mad_

_the spaceman says everybody look down_

_it's all in your mind._

_The storm-maker says it ain't so bad._

_The dream-maker's gonna make you mad_

_the spaceman says everybody look down_

_it's all in your mind._

_My global position systems_

_are vocally addressed._

_They say the Nile used to run from East to West._

_They say the Nile used to run..._

_from East to West._

_I'm fine_

_but I hear those voices at night_

_sometimes..._

_The storm-maker says it ain't so bad._

_The dream-maker's gonna make you mad_

_the spaceman says everybody look down_

_it's all in your mind._

_The storm-maker says it ain't so bad._

_The dream-maker's gonna make you mad_

_the spaceman says everybody look down_

_it's all in your mind._

_It's all in my mind!_

_It's all in my mind..._

The song ended. It just occurred to me that it was talking about being abducted by aliens... Oh well! It was a fun song, and it lifted my spirits. I felt happy, and I let the feeling flood from my body into my world. The wind picked up and swirled around us. The sun shone a little brighter and the clouds parted and began to disappear. But I wasn't done yet. I still felt the urge. I still had one more song to sing before I was done.

Determination in my mind, I reached deeper inside me a pulled out a song. I braced myself and got ready to put everything in me into this last song.

_Oh, oh, oh, it's magic! You know,_

_Never believe it's not so_

_it's magic, you know_

_never believe it's not so!_

_I never been awake_

_I never seen a day break_

_leaning on my pillow in the mornin'_

_a lazy day in bed_

_music in my head_

_crazy music playin in the mornin light_

_Oh, oh, oh, it's magic! You know,_

_Never believe it's not so_

_it's magic, you know_

_never believe it's not so!_

_I love my sunny day_

_dream of far away_

_dreamin on my pillow in the mornin_

_never been awake_

_never seen a day break_

_leanin on my pillow in the mornin light_

_Oh, oh, oh, it's magic! You know,_

_Never believe it's not so_

_it's magic, you know_

_never believe it's not so!_

_Laaaaaaaaaaaa~_

_Oh, oh, oh, it's magic! You know,_

_Never believe it's not so_

_it's magic, you know_

_never believe it's not so!_

_Oooohhhhhh~!_

_Never believe..._

As the song ended and the last words fell into the world, a sense of peace and completion came over me. I felt...happy. And I didn't flinch when familiar light flooded my eyes. My life, my memories, my emotions... Everything in my heart and soul left my body and flowed into my world.

My world became filled with it, as I breathed out my life and energy and peace. I watched flowers bloom, trees grow, and animals come to life. Everything I knew became a part of my world. It was perfect! This was my heaven, the place of peace and happiness, I could just _feel_ it!

* * *

**songs:**

**#1: Stand My Ground by The Silent Force**

**#2: Pale by The Silent Force**

**#3: Amazing by Jem**

**#4: Spaceman by The Killers**

**#5: Magic by Selena Gomez**


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21, now up. **

* * *

Chapter 21

A little golden acorn drew my attention from what was happening in my world. I remembered it from the Dark Wood. It was making a fuss near Jack, who was laughing in mirth. It swirled and whizzed around him, shoots little gold sparks as it went. Carefully, I climbed off the high rock and waded through the grass.

"What's going on with it?" I asked, pointing to the acorn.

_It wishes to be planted._ Spirit said softly. I opened my hand to the acorn. It stopped spinning violently around Jack and came to a rest on my hand, nestling into my palm. I carefully climbed down from the rock, glowing acorn stuck fast in my hand.

"What is it, exactly? I touched it and it fell off Morgan's tree." Ben took it from me and studied it.

"It's filled with your energy and light. But it came from Morgan's tree? It's covered with these, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, but they were red and kinda see-through." I answered him.

"Well, I think it holds some sort of symbolism. Morgan represents fear and hatred, along with all the bad things humanity holds in its heart and soul. She represents all things negative. You, however, represent the good and light in all living things. The purity of the soul, the goodness in the heart, the happiness to be found in the light. In essence, it says that to get to where you need to go, you need to conquer fear and walk in the light." I thought I got it. It made a bit of sense, really. I had to overcome my fear to save Jack and myself from the clutches of Morgan and her Dark Wood, and the magic I had used was, in depth, harnessed light.

"So why do I need to plant it?" I asked.

_Because you will grow your own tree from it. This acorn was made by the powers of Morgan, but it's infused with yours. It has perfect balance, which is another symbol, but of your mission. When it grows, it will have acorns on it too, but to make doors. As a bonus, you'll be able to draw power from the tree when you need to. It regenerates its own power and multiplies it, so it will be like an unlimited amount of power. That only YOU can tap into._ Spirit said this last part with a pointed look at Jack. He rolled his eyes, catching her meaning.

"I don't really get it. How can an acorn grow a door?" Jack quizzed.

"I don't really get it either." I said, confused. Jack had a point.

_Just plant it. You'll understand later._ Spirit said as she nudged my head with her nose.

So, walking away from them all, I knelt where there was plenty of growing room. The acorn quivered in excitement, anticipating what would happen. I dug my fingers into the soft, warm earth and made a hole. Gently placing the tiny seed inside, I covered it by sprinkling the dirt lightly over it, making sure there was plenty of air. I stepped back.

There was no rumble. There was no shaking, no dramatic movement, nothing Earth shattering. There was a hum. A small, simple sound, almost like a sigh. And then, a tiny, pale green tip poked out of the ground. Slowly but surely, it grew taller and thicker, weaving up and thickening to become a tree. Branches stemmed out and bark began to cover it. Leaves began to fill out the structure. In a matter of minutes, a beautiful, full, wide, oak tree had grown before my eyes and now stood in front of me.

I stared in awe. The leaves were shiny and their edges were trimmed gold. Little acorns grew everywhere in the magical tree's wide branches. They looked exactly like the ones that hung from Morgan's tree, except they were white and not red. They were pale, empty things. They didn't glow. They didn't shine.

_They only seem this way to you, Melody. Technically, none of them actually belong to you._

"What does she mean, Ben?" I asked, suddenly weary.

"I dunno." Ben shrugged. "Ask Jack, though, he'll know."

* * *

**Supah short chapter and what's worse is it ends in a cliffhanger. HA! You must think I hate you all. You're almost right. I dislike people very much, now. :D**

**BUT! Don't hate me. The next chapter is told from Jack's POV, which I know you'll all love. Jack is my favorite...**


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